You want to get a puppy and come across a Twitter post or classified ad, from somebody willing to give a pet away (or have a bunch of them for a ridiculous low price). The pictures are cute and you fall in love with the animal.

You contact the person and he explains that he just moved out of the country and the pet is having a horrible time accommodating to the new climate. After exchanging a few e-mails and building trust, the owner of the animal will only require that you pay for the shipping, just promise you’ll take good care of the pet.

After you wire the money, it will be the last you will hear from him, since the pet never existed in the first place. The scammer just used Internet pictures with the cute puppies. The crook could also approach his victims by saying his spouse died and now he needs to get rid of all the things that remind him of the deceased.

The crook might also pretend he is using a third party to mediate the deal, to make the transaction seem more secure.

How to avoid: get pets from your own town - there must be some that need love. This way, you can go and pick them up yourself.