Thieves defraud pet owners by pretending to be animal control officers

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Animal Care and Control warns residents that thieves are posing as animal control officers and demanding money for the return of lost pets.
According to Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, thieves use lost pet posters and websites like PawBoost to contact owners. Some reports say thieves call, text or even spoof-call using the city’s phone number. 
The trick goes like this: thieves contact pet owners posing as animal control officers and lie about finding their pet who needs bogus emergency surgery, Minneapolis Animal Care and Control says, then they send a link to wire money. In some cases, the thieves have defrauded pet owners of thousands of dollars. 
“This scam angers us,” said Minneapolis Animal Care and Control director Tony Schendel. “These scammers are calling people who are in an already vulnerable situation, having lost their pet, and make the experience even worse. We want people to know this is happening so they can report it to us immediately.” 
According to Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, 30 people have reported receiving some kind of fictitious contact from thieves pretending to be animal control officers. However, they say there’s a good chance that there have been many additional instances that have gone unreported. 
Reported incidents say that thieves are using Minneapolis phone numbers and ask for around $1,500. Schendel says seems like a realistic veterinary care bill for owners. 
“We believe there’s risk for many people to fall for this,” Schendel says. “It doesn’t seem like an outlandish amount.”   
One resident, Marla Khan-Schwartz of Minneapolis, says she received a call last month after a yearlong search for her family’s missing cat, Otis. The caller claimed that they had found Otis but the cat was in desperate need of an operation. Schwartz said the caller used legitimate-sounding medical terms before asking her to pay for half of a $3,201.96 medical bill. 
Schwartz claims that at this point she became suspicious and later confirmed the call was fake. 
“I felt so embarrassed and emotionally manipulated,” said Schwartz. “It’s an angering experience when people take advantage of that horrible feeling of losing a pet. It’s ridiculous and wrong.”  
Schendel says Minneapolis Animal Care and Control will never sends links or asks for money over the phone in a lost pet situation. Owners of lost pets in Minneapolis Animal Care and Control’s care must visit the shelter in person and show proof of ownership.    
“Residents need to be aware of this kind of fraud so they don’t lose out on thousands of dollars of hard-earned money in a time of vulnerability,” said City of Minneapolis Chief Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher. “I applaud our City animal control officers and everyone at MACC who work every day in the best interest of our residents and their beloved pets.”  
For more information or if you believe you have received a scam call or text, contact Minneapolis Animal Care and Control at 612-673-6222.