Mediaboss Marketing

A phone scam has been targeting the owners of lost pets in San Francisco who post about them on social media, and SF Animal Care & Control wants everyone to be aware of it.

It's pretty standard caller-ID spoofing scam, but one that is targeting people in an emotionally vulnerable state, and SF Animal Care & Control calls it "appalling."

"The scammers are contacting people with lost pet posts on social media from what appears to be the shelters main phone number, 415-554-6364," the agency writes in a Facebook post. "The scammer identifies himself as a staff member of SF Animal Care & Control, tells the pet guardian that the shelter has their pet, then asks for payment via a pay app or a gift card from a retailer."

And the agency wants to make sure everyone knows, "SF Animal Care & Control staff will never ask for service payments to be made over the phone."

Note that, if your pet is lost, it is true that SF Animal Care & Control will charge impound and redemption fees if the animal ends up in their care but they will only charge those fees in person. That fee schedule is here.

If you have lost a pet in San Francisco, the agency has a number of tips for steps you can take to conduct your own search in your neighborhood, and it includes putting a pet bed or personal item outside by a door so that they can find their scent again, and driving slowly through the neighborhood dogs sometimes recognize the sound of their guardians' cars.

They also recommend conducting searches at night or in early morning or whenever things are quietest.

Top image: One of the lost or abandoned kittens currently at SF Animal Care & Control's shelter.

The rest is here:
Scammers Pretending to Be SF Animal Control Are Calling ... - SFist