Kitten scams: red flags and how to pay safely
How kitten scams work, the warning signs at each stage, which payment methods protect you and what to do if you have already paid.
By PurrTrust Editorial Team · Updated · 4 min read
Pet scams are among the most common online purchase scams in the US, and pedigree kittens are a favorite target because buyers expect to pay a deposit to someone they have never met. Our scam checklist is the quick version. This article explains how the scams actually work, so you can recognize one even when the details change.
How a typical kitten scam works
- The listing. Photos are copied from a real breeder's website or social media. The price is attractive, often well below the normal range for the breed, and kittens are 'available now'.
- The conversation. The 'breeder' replies quickly, is friendly and moves you to text or email. There is usually a sad or urgent story: a move, an illness, a kitten that 'must go this week'.
- The payment. You are asked for a deposit or the full price by a method that is hard to reverse: Zelle, Cash App, wire transfer, gift cards or crypto.
- The extras. After you pay, a 'shipping company' contacts you demanding money for an insurance policy, a special crate, a vaccine or a 'pet travel permit'. The fees keep coming until you stop paying.
The fake shipping company is often a convincing website created for the scam. Real breeders arrange transport themselves or let you pick up in person, and they tell you all costs up front.
Red flags before you pay
- A price far below the typical range. Check our price guides for each breed.
- No live video call, or a call where you never see the kitten and its mother together.
- Photos that turn up elsewhere in a reverse-image search, or that show kittens of very different ages.
- No verifiable registration, or a cattery name that doesn't match the registry's records.
- Pressure: 'other buyers are interested', 'the price goes up tomorrow'.
- Shipping only, with no option to visit or pick up.
- Requests to pay a friend or family member, or a business with a different name.
- Generic answers to specific questions about the parents and their health tests.
Red flags after you pay
- New fees for shipping insurance, crates, vaccines, customs or permits that were never mentioned.
- A delivery that is 'held at the airport' until you pay more.
- Threats that you will be reported for animal abandonment if you don't pay.
Any one of these means stop paying. Legitimate transport does not work this way.
How to pay safely
The safest payment is one that can be reversed if the kitten never arrives, made to a seller whose identity has been verified.
- Pay through a marketplace that holds or protects your payment and verifies the seller. On PurrTrust, deposits are paid through the platform, never directly by Zelle, gift card, wire or crypto, and you meet the kitten on a live video check-in first.
- A credit card gives you the right to dispute a charge for goods you did not receive. A debit card offers less protection.
- Peer-to-peer apps like Zelle, Venmo and Cash App are designed for paying people you know. Most offer little or no protection when you pay a stranger who never delivers.
- Never pay with gift cards, wire transfers, money orders or crypto. Once sent, this money is very hard to recover.
- Pay the balance at pickup, in person, when you can see the kitten and the paperwork.
Verify before you trust
- Reverse-image search two or three listing photos.
- Look up the cattery with the registry it claims.
- Search the breeder's name, phone number and email with the word 'scam'.
- Do a live video call and ask for something specific on the spot.
- Read the contract and deposit terms before paying.
- Confirm any transport company independently, not through a link the seller sends you.
If you think you have been scammed
- Stop paying. Do not send more money to 'release' the kitten.
- Contact your bank or card issuer straight away and ask about disputing or recalling the payment. Speed matters.
- Keep everything: listings, messages, emails, phone numbers and receipts.
- Report it to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
- Report the listing to the site where you found it. Then report it to PurrTrust, even if the seller never used PurrTrust: once our team confirms it, it goes on our list of known kitten scams so the next buyer is warned.
Scams succeed because they are convincing, and being caught by one is nothing to be embarrassed about. Reporting helps get listings taken down and warns the next buyer.
Keep reading
Our guide to finding a reputable cat breeder covers what a legitimate cattery looks like, and pickup vs. flight nanny explains how real kitten transport works.