Scam Sellers:

In recent times, scammers have found unique ways to scam people out of their money. It happens on eBay and many other sites, so please be alert for these scammers on our site, too. In order to minimize the chances of being scammed by a Seller, consider the following:

1. Confirm the Seller's location:
• Make sure the Seller's address and phone number (land line) corresponds with the area in which the pet is being sold.
• Do not fall for the common scammer tricks that they recently moved to some foreign country and must now sell their pets stranded in the US.
2. Request references:
• The references normally should have phone numbers which are listed in the Seller's local area's phone book or directory assistance.
• Ideally the seller should be a member of a local or national club related to the particular pet. You may obtain references from the club about the seller.
3. Check Seller's website:
• Some Sellers will have websites that may have references you can contact.
4. Beware of Sellers:
• Who want money sent overseas when they have a US address.
• With pets priced to low to be true, including shipping.
• Who do not want you to pick up the pet, but instead want to ship it.
• Who keep asking for additional money after you have paid the asking price.
• Hopefully, it hasn't gotten that far.
5. Report Scammers:
• Internet Providers do not have much tolerance for a customer who abuses the internet.
• You may want to use this handy website for looking up IP addresses and ISP providers of scammers: www.analysespider.com
• Please report any suspicious activity to admin@mypetbids.com
• We make it our business to stop scammers and to report them to the proper authorities.

Cashier Check and Money Order Scam:

1. In recent months there has been a new scam of counterfeit cashier's checks (and money orders) which has received a lot of publicity. It has been used on eBay a lot. It has also been attempted on other types of internet sites.
2. For this reason, we are advising all of our sellers to accept only credit cards, cash, PayPal, or wire transfers for payments unless they know the person to whom they are selling their pets.
3. Here is how this scam usually works.
• The scammer offers to pay the seller more than the asking price for the item.
• The scammer then offers to pay with a cashier's check and asks the the seller to refund the difference in cash to pay for shipping.
• Many people will fall for this trick because cashier's checks were always as good as gold until now.
4. For instance, if you are selling a pet for $500, the scammer would offer to pay you with a cashier's check for $1000, but would ask you to give the person, who will be picking up the pet, $500 in cash to be used to cover shipping and handling. If you give that person $500 and your pet, then you would have lost your pet plus $500, if the cashier's check is worthless.
5. Be alert for these scammers.