LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Receiving a phone call from the Little Rock Animal Village saying they found a lost pet isn’t uncommon, but scammers are doing the same thing.
However, the impersonators don’t have the pet; they want the owner’s money.
"It's infuriating, and it makes my blood boil," Betsy Robb with Friends of the Little Rock Animal Village said. "It is the meanest scam I can think of."
Scammers are targeting pet owners in a vulnerable state, and it isn't the first time it has happened.
Little Rock Animal Services Manager Tracy Roark said they're posing as the Little Rock Animal Village.
“They're going online and seeing people have lost their pet," Roark said. "They're contacting them and saying we [Little Rock Animal Village] have their animal and are asking them to pay."
Since it’s a scam, more often than not, the Little Rock Animal Village doesn’t have the lost pet. So, the owner is out of money and hope, which Robb has seen firsthand.
“It took everything I had not to fall apart myself,” Robb said. “It's absolutely heartbreaking and soul crushing, it's despicable.”
Robb said scammers continuously use this con.
“This one we've been seeing for a year now,” Robb said. “It comes up every couple of months.”
Roark said if someone is trying to figure out if it’s the Little Rock Animal Village, to know that it's all about the money.
"We do not take money over the phone," Roark said. "You have to come in and pay in person to reclaim your animal."
The best piece of advice from Roark is that even if it’s not a scammer, hang up and personally call the animal village to get the truth.
“Make sure that you have your eyes on your pet before any money comes up,” Roark said.
Unfortunately, scams like this are frequent.
“With scammers, it's like playing whack a mole because here's a new scam every day,” Robb said.
On top of pet owners doing research, Robb said a microchip can save heartbreak.
“When pets are microchipped, we're usually able to reunite them with their families quickly,” Robb said. “It is the best way to ensure you can be reunited with them.”
Roark and Robb urge anyone who is hit with this scam to report it to the police to end the con.