PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — With numerous owners still looking for the pets following Hurricane Milton, some people are trying to capitalize on their pain.
The Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control said people pretending to be animal control workers are trying to get money from vulnerable pet owners searching for their lost animals.
The callers are targeting people posting about their lost pets on social media.
The callers get the owner’s information from the post and then call them claiming their animal is either in their care or injured.
They then request a money transfer to either reunite the pet and owner or to save the animals’ life.
“It’s heartbreaking for pet owners," Public Relations specialist Arielle Weinberger said. "People call us, or they even come into our lobby in a panic saying, ‘I got this call asking for money, because my pet was hit by a car,’ and we have to tell them that’s not the case, we don’t have their animal.”
The shelter said they would never ask anyone for money over the phone, and if someone is a victim of one of these con artists call the police.
