KING COUNTY, Wash. — A King County woman has lost nearly $5,000 to scammers who claimed to have found her missing cat.
“He was my baby and my companion, and I miss him terribly,” said Joan.
On June 4, Joan’s cat, named Kitty, disappeared from her home. She told KIRO 7 she had adopted him from the Seattle Humane Society about five years ago.
“I called him and called him and called nothing. And he was there one day, and he wasn’t there the next day,” she explained.
After six days had gone by, she says she got a call from a man who claimed Kitty had been found.
“I said, where is he? He said, ‘Well, the police took him to the shelter, and he has to have surgery, because he’s injured,’” Joan said.
Joan says the scammer asked for money for a surgery through Zelle, so she sent it. The next day, the man gave her updates on the ‘procedure.’ But he told her the payment didn’t go through, so Joan sent the money again, and again.
In total, she ended up paying $4,600 to the man on the phone.
“He said all the right things. And I was just lopping it up because the only thing I could think of was my kitty, he’s alive. He’s okay. He’s having surgery. He’ll be fine,” Joan said.
Joan believed she was going to finally have Kitty in her arms again. She kept trying to visit Kitty, but she says the man on the phone kept telling her visits were not allowed.
It wasn’t until she showed up at the Seattle Humane Society that Joan found out Kitty was never there in the first place.
“The smart part of my brain shut off, and the emotional side turned on. And there were so many red flags and things that didn’t sound right to me, but I didn’t even think about it because I was so excited,” Joan explained. “I’m upset by losing $4,600, but that is not the issue. I want my Kitty back.”
The Seattle Humane Society says scammers are evolving, even copying their phone number.
“These scammers are preying on people’s desperation to have their families back. So they’re not just taking their money, they’re taking their hope,” said Brandon Macz, PR/Social Media Specialist with the Seattle Humane Society.
Macz says you’ll know the call is fake if they ask for money over the phone.
“If they are found and they are injured and they’re brought into our care, we will do our very best to take care of them and to make sure that they’re comfortable and to provide them as much medical care as we can within our abilities,” he explained.
The Seattle Humane Society says you can check on their website or call them to double-check if your pet is with them.
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