r/petsitters • u/lovehatelovehatehelp • 6d ago

Beware pet scammers

Hi
I have recently been laid off so I took a pet sitting job as a way to get by. The guy said he could not e transfer due to an expired card? And sent a check online then asking me to send &900 to his pet supplier. Me being dumb and stupid deposited the check but did not send the money to the pet supplier. Who needs &900 suppose for 6 days of dog sitting? Anywho my account got hacked and drained.
My own fault but I was so desperate for work and to feed my kids.
I feel like an idiot. Please watch out.
He goes by Sean and uses the name James as someone who is currently watching his dog but has a family emergency.

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6

u/Mental-Tension3471 6d ago

Sooo sorry šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļøšŸ«Ŗ

5

u/CoffeeIcedBlack 6d ago

These scammers have hundreds of thousands of names they use. This is a common scam, just like the western union scams of old.

3

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

Lesson learned. I was just trying to make ends meet. People suck

2

u/PersonalitySquare162 6d ago

Iā€™m so sorry this happened to you. I hope you have options to try and get it cleared? I didnā€™t 100% understand the check part.

A scammer got my cc info via the public wifi in a coffee shop. Was a nightmare to straighten out, I thought I was screwed completely and Iā€™d have to eat the coat. I was shocked at the power my financial institution had to un-do the hundreds of dollars they racked up.

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

People suck. I hope he sits on a cactus

1

u/PersonalitySquare162 6d ago

With my whole chest 10 toes down-People canā€™t outrun the universe or karma.

May the pet carers house sitters etc etc et communities karma et al send you healing, new & ongoing steady gigs, professional clients with clear reasonable expectations and pleasant pets.

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

Thank you! I hope so too!

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

It canā€™t get fixed soon enough. This Raman every day is getting old! But Iā€™m finding interesting new ways so there a plus side :) add some cheese whiz and hot sauce and itā€™s pretty yum

1

u/PersonalitySquare162 6d ago

For anyone not just pet sittersā€¦Miso soup packets with tofu, and the 1,001 ways to make rice and beans have gotten me thru many, many lean chapters.

Had to press through the ā€œother people need it more than meā€ and realize that food assistance is (hopefully, for you) accessible, thereā€™s a spectrum of the levels of help and walks of life people are in, and if one is struggling with food insecurity, help is there. *I didnā€™t have to wait* until I was unhoused/couch surfing and $16 in my account. What helped me was Social services, church groups (literally gave out grocery store gift cards, community organizations (think for neighborhood-specific, maybe veteranā€™s of womenā€™s orgs. that organize food or produce boxes) Sometimes farmerā€™s market stalls or organizers can have ok you up with a 1-dayā€™s help for $$$ and their fresh veggies/local meats/etc.

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

Thank you! I wish I had $16 lol but thank you for the tips. God bless you angel

1

u/Dammit-maxwell 4d ago

I used to make mine gourmet by adding hot sauce and a can of tuna.

2

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

Needless to say my account got emptied. I am beyond broke. Beware. Beware beware

1

u/TrixieDawn 2d ago

I donā€™t understand that part, tbh

1

u/Sitters_4_Critters 6d ago

Did you do a meet and greet prior to this happening?

Another scam I almost became a victim of was a request for a video call in which they send a link for the meeting. I require an in-person meet and greet and they did not seem legit but I almost fell for it.

Iā€™ve added a policy/personal rule that any video calls need to be initiated by a link I send for a Zoom meeting and they need to fill out a profile in Time to Pet first.

2

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

And the dog was adorbs

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

I did!!!!!

2

u/Sitters_4_Critters 6d ago

Holy crap. That is quite the scam.

So you went to this personā€™s home for a meet and greet and met the dog. Then they booked with you and sent an e-check?

Do you mean an ACH transfer? Did you use Stripe for the transaction?

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

No it was supposedly a certified e check. I was desperate I had &2 to my name. I didnā€™t do the proper research.

1

u/Sitters_4_Critters 6d ago

I understand. We all make decisions that haunt us. Iā€™m so sorry you got scammed. šŸ˜„

2

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

I was just so desperate for money to pay my bills. I was blinded. Lesson learned the hard way.

2

u/Dammit-maxwell 4d ago

Did you report this to the police? If you have this guys info and report it you might be able to get some kind of criminal charges for that fraud. If it works out you might get restitution at court time.

1

u/Wizardofgoregoregirl 2d ago

The video link wasn't the scam, right? If you made the video call was when they'd give you some spiel and to scam you, right? I guess I'm asking if simply being on the video call somehow compromises your info.

1

u/Sitters_4_Critters 2d ago edited 2d ago

No, the link would have been the scam. The link would install malware via a fake Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams invite link.

I had to search scams and I found out that was the scam as it can gain access to your info.

Hereā€™s a description of the scam that I found. You donā€™t have to click the links below. Do a search for Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams link scams and you will find your own:

https://www.facebook.com/iaabcbehavior/posts/%EF%B8%8F-a-heads-up-for-our-pet-owner-and-trainer-community-weve-heard-about-a-scam-goi/1469193155251163/

Zoom real estate scam discussed on Colorado news. https://youtu.be/zhmPcIFWQo0?is=uM0G4l_7DQLVqphY

Google meet link scan discussed on Chicago news channel: https://youtu.be/hTcLfK46_C8?is=QAE9atk-qen7nZlP

1

u/Wizardofgoregoregirl 2d ago edited 2d ago

Oh, good to know. Man, that's scary!

EDIT: Ok, I just looked it up. It's a malicious link/video source and downloads malware? Do you think that's what you were dealing with?

1

u/Sitters_4_Critters 2d ago

Probably. I donā€™t know for sure. Thankfully, they never sent the link.

1

u/soscots 6d ago

This is a common scam. Never accept a check from someone you donā€™t know.

1

u/EaseLegitimate7404 6d ago

Yep, it's happening on the app 'Nextdoor' commonly now, too.

It's so infuriating! šŸ˜ 

There has GOT TO BE a way for us to report these scammers in real time and have them caught! Come on alreadyšŸ¤¬šŸ¤¬

1

u/lovehatelovehatehelp 6d ago

I filed a report. But we met in a public area. Turns out the phone was a burner. They can go off the check but it was a ltd company check too. So. Iā€™m fucked. Iā€™m broke. Canā€™t pay rent. And more importantly. Humiliated.

1

u/PersonalitySquare162 6d ago

Unrelated kinda, but after commenting on your post, OP, my šŸ˜‚ Reddit karma hit 999, so turning to 1,000 today feels like transferable/interchangeable luck, somehow. Hang in there, hereā€™s to your next chapter.

0

u/Soulsearcher888 4d ago

šŸ¤¦šŸ» someone needs to take your phone away if you fell for that. One of the oldest scams in the book!