Island market place Website, Wightbay, has become the target of fraudsters in an online scam.
We’ve heard that Islanders looking to buy a puppy through the Website have been stung by the scam.
Users of the site are met with cheap, but reasonable prices enticing them to get in touch.
When calling the number, the dialling tone sounds strange and is answered by someone who eventually requests money for a deposit or for couriering the puppy.
Charged more than £90 for call
The phone call often goes to a foreign country and is a premium rate number. We’ve learnt that one user on the site, calling herself “sue_snow”, was charged £90 for the phone calls when she fell for the scam last year.
The adverts often look legitimate, with lots of photos. A known scam user name on WightBay is ElenRabbits.
Good practice
Good breeders will let you visit the puppies whilst they are still with their mothers and should not be separated until they are around eight weeks old.
When asked what they do to prevent these scam ads Wightbay said, “We have a scam warning on our Website and a ‘report ad’ button which users should press if the ad feels dubious.”
Image: © Charlotte Stockdale
