PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Public Safety officials are warning residents of a new phone scam.
Officials say someone is impersonating an Animal Care and Control officer and requesting payment over the phone for a lost or injured pet.
Channel 11 spoke with pet parents at a dog park in South Side Works who told us this scam is their worst nightmare. Imagine losing your furry companion posting here to Facebook for help and a scammer targeting you.
“I’d be furious,” said Alison Lizzi, a South Side resident.
Alison Lizzi has had her puppy for only two weeks, and we warned her about the new scam, she said this is a new low even for criminals.
“You’re already freaking out about the loss of your pup and here these people are trying to take advantage of that situation just unacceptable,” Lizzi said.
According to a warning from Pittsburgh police, scammers are using social pages like Facebook and Nextdoor to target people who’ve posted their missing pets.
The scammer tells the person that they are animal care & control and they’ve found their pet, and they’ll need payment for an emergency surgery to save the animal.
We asked Alison if she would fall for the scam if it happened to her, and she said, “No.”
“No, you can tell usually when something is a scam,” she explained.
But police cautioned people who are targeted to remember that Animal Care and Control officers will never demand money for any reason. Alison suggested having your animal micro-chipped for additional security.
“He is 14 months old right now, and thankfully he is chipped so if that ever happened hopefully, we could take care of him,” she said.
Pittsburgh police said if you have or think you may have been targeted to immediately contact officers.
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