Someone says they found your lost pet

What the messages look like

The messages reach you after you've shared that a pet is missing. They can arrive by call, text, email or a message on a neighborhood or social media page. The FTC's June 2026 alert on pet scams describes the pattern in one sentence: "Scammers pretend to be law enforcement or an animal hospital, claiming to have your pet who’s had an emergency." It adds that the scammers "might even use AI to create fake photos or videos of your pet in distress."

The versions that officials and animal-welfare groups have described:

• A "finder" who wants money before the pet comes home. A veterinary technician quoted by AARP says this was the most common version in the past: someone falsely says they found your pet and asks for money before returning it.
• A shelter or an animal hospital with an emergency. The FTC's June 2025 alert describes a call or text from someone who says they're staff at a local SPCA or other shelter, that your pet was hit by a car and that you need to pay $500 right away; it adds that the caller tells you exactly how to pay. Maryland's Attorney General warned in May 2025 of callers posing as staff of real shelters, using caller ID spoofing so the call looked like it came from the shelter, and asking for payment by Zelle, Cash App, Venmo or PayPal.
• A fake search service. A pet detective quoted by AARP says she has seen scammers pose as pet detectives and recovery services, including drone searches, collect payment to look for your pet and disappear.
• A request for a code or personal details. The same article quotes the veterinary technician: "Others are after personal information, account access or verification codes." The San Francisco SPCA, which warned its community of calls like these in March 2025, lists a verification code among the things callers demand.
• A link. We haven't found an official alert that describes links in these messages specifically, but the rule for any unexpected message applies: don't open it. If you're curious where it leads, copy it (don't tap it) and paste it into our link checker.

Why it works

Anyone who has lost an animal wants to believe the call. The scammer doesn't need to know you: the FTC says they "might have seen a flyer for a missing pet, or know from social media that you’re away from home." What you posted (the name, a photo, where your pet was last seen) is what a caller repeats to sound convincing, as the veterinary technician in AARP's article notes, so a caller who knows those details has shown you nothing.

Red flags

• Money first. A rescue director quoted by AARP calls this the number one sign: they don't let you see the pet or pick it up, but want you to pay a vet bill before you've been to any clinic.
• A payment method you can't take back. Gift cards, a payment app, a wire, crypto. The FTC says scammers choose them because they "get scammers the money quickly…and make it hard for you to get it back." Maryland's Attorney General says that "Shelters generally do not request payments over the phone or through money transfer apps."
• A rush. A surgery that must happen in the next hour. The FTC's advice: "Don’t let scammers rush you into making a decision."
• No real proof. A photo that matches the one you posted, or one that is hard to check. A person who has your pet can send a current photo and answer questions about details you never shared.
• Excuses about why you can't see the animal, or a move to a private chat app such as WhatsApp or Telegram, which an expert quoted by AARP lists as a warning sign. The San Francisco SPCA lists excuses for why you can't see your pet in person as a warning sign.
• A call from "the shelter" you can't confirm. Caller ID can be faked, as the FTC's guide to avoiding scams says and Maryland's alert describes.
• A code, a password or a link. No one needs a code sent to your phone to hand back a pet (why codes are keys).

What to do instead

1. Slow down, and say you'll call back. A few minutes costs a real finder very little. The FTC says: "Slow down and talk to someone you trust."
2. Call the shelter or clinic yourself. The FTC says to look up the number of the shelter the person says they're calling from and call it to see whether your pet is there. Take the number from the shelter's own website or from paperwork you already have, not from the message and not from a search ad: the FTC warns, "Don’t assume the phone number that comes up in search is legit." A real shelter or clinic can take a call back.
3. Ask for proof only the real finder has. Ask for a current photo, including a view or marking you didn't show in your post, or a live video call. Maryland's Attorney General suggests asking for specific details only someone with the pet would know. Don't offer the answer yourself.
4. Check through the microchip registry. If your pet has a chip, a shelter, animal control office or veterinary clinic can scan it. A neighbor can't: "Reading a microchip takes a special scanner, one that an animal services officer or shelter will have, but your neighbor down the street will not." So ask the finder to take the animal to a shelter or a vet, where staff can scan it and reach you through the registry. You can also look up your own chip number to check that your registry record has your current phone number; Humane World for Animals says the American Animal Hospital Association's online microchip lookup tool "searches the databases of all major microchip registries". (The AAHA site refused our automated check, so we couldn't open it; see the sources below.) No chip, or no record, doesn't mean the finder is lying; it means the check has to be done another way.
5. Meet where other people are. A lost-pet specialist quoted by AARP suggests a live video call or an in-person meeting at a safe, neutral place such as an animal shelter or a police station. We'd bring a friend or family member and tell someone where you're going. Don't go to a stranger's home, and don't invite them to yours; if they won't meet at a shelter or a vet's office, that tells you something.
6. Pay only after you have your pet back, or after you've confirmed the clinic yourself. Never pay a stranger by gift card, wire, cryptocurrency or a payment app. If a clinic really is treating your pet, you can ask what the bill is for and pay the clinic you reached through its own number. A reward is yours to offer or not; if you do, hand it over in person after your pet is with you.
7. Keep your codes and passwords to yourself. If you gave a code, see below.

If someone really did find your pet

Many people who find an animal want only to get it home, and none of these checks costs them anything. A real finder can send a photo, say where they are, and meet you at a shelter or a vet's office.

If you already paid, sent a code or opened a link

• Paid: contact the card company, bank or payment app right away and ask them to reverse it. The steps by payment method are on our "I sent money" section, from the FTC's guide.
• Gave a code or a password: the account it unlocks is the worry. Change that password from a device you trust and turn on two-step sign-in: I typed a password. If it was for your email, use the first-hour checklist for a hacked email.
• Opened a link or gave a card number: see I clicked a link and I gave a card number.
• Afterward, don't pay anyone who offers to get your money back or find your pet for a fee. See what to do if you paid.

Where to report it

• ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC asks people who spot these scams to tell it there.
• ic3.gov, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, for scams that happened online, by text or by phone.
• Your state attorney general. Maryland's alert asks people targeted to report to its Consumer Protection Division and the FTC.
• Your local police, as the San Francisco SPCA suggests, and the real shelter or clinic whose name was used, at a number you looked up yourself.
• AARP's scams and fraud pages list a free Fraud Watch Network helpline; its number is on that page.

Before you post about a missing pet

Posting is still worth it. Two habits suggested by the experts AARP quotes make a scammer's job harder: keep your phone number and email out of public posts when you can, and hold back one marking you can ask a caller about. Also make sure your pet's chip is registered with your current details; Humane World for Animals says you need to register the chip and keep your information current.

Related patterns

• Anyone asking you to pay with gift cardsBuy cards, scratch the back, read the numbers.
• Calls from a grandchild or relative in troubleA loved one in a crisis, a stranger with authority, and a secret.
• “Your account is locked” and other account warningsA problem with your account, and a link to sign in and fix it.