Scammers impersonate Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department to try and extort pet owners

Scammers are preying on Albuquerque pet owners, according to the city’s Animal Welfare Department.

Carolyn Ortega, director of the department, said that it has received 12 reports over the past month of people calling from what appears to be the Animal Welfare Department’s phone number and trying to extort residents for money.

“We got several reports about people being called to ask them to pay money to get their dogs returned, or even saying that they had their dog they got hit by a car,” Ortega said.

Ortega added that in many cases the calls are being made to people who have posted about a missing pet.

“I think the scammers are going to those websites, seeing that they’ve continuously posted that their pet is missing, and then really used that as their motivation to give them a call directly,” Ortega said.

A news release from the department Monday morning said scammers are using one of two methods to scam people; In one, they are targeting people who lost pets and asking them for payment over the phone to get their pets back.

In another, the owner is told by the scammer that their pet needs emergency surgery and demands payment immediately.

Oftentimes the caller asks them to transfer the money on gift cards or through Cash-App.

Ortega said that nobody has fallen for the scam yet, to the department’s knowledge.

“These scammers are starting to realize how important our pets are to us and really trying to take advantage of that situation when we’re at our most vulnerable,” Ortega said.

Per the Animal Welfare Department’s website: “Note that AWD does call pet owners to inform them that their pet is at the shelter and will instruct the owner to go to the shelter to reclaim their pet. If the pet is already spayed or neutered, he or she will be returned to the owner free of charge. If the pet is not spayed or neutered, the owner will be told the amount of the reclaim fee and to go to the shelter to pay the fee.”

The department is asking those who receive a fake call to report it to the Attorney General’s Office or to the Federal Trade Commission.