The owner of a missing cat is warning people to be vigilant after scammers posed as RSPCA officers before asking for money.
Facebook is regularly used as a platform for people to report their missing pets in the hopes that people in the community can help reunite them.
On Tuesday, February 15, Julia Winder reported on Facebook that her house cat Barry had gone missing from the Bromborough area of Wirral and asked locals to “keep a lookout”
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Julia had not received any news on Barry's whereabouts until Thursday night when she got a call from a person who claimed to be from the RSPCA informing her that her cat had been found and was okay.
The RSPCA representative told her that Barry had been taken to Vets4Pets in Bromborough but in order to pick him up she would need to pay a £10 admin fee prior to collection.
Julia, who lives in Bromborough Village, said she grew 'very suspicious' at this point and decided to drive to the vets in Croft Retail prior to sending over any of her bank details like she had been requested.
Arriving at the vets for around 7pm, her doubts were confirmed when the vets was closed and the manager of the pet shop said nobody else was there.
Warning others about the scam on Crimewatch Wirral Facebook page, the cat owner wrote: “Calvin just received a call from supposedly the RSPCA saying they had Barry and he was all ok and at Vets4Pets in Bromborough.
“[They said] we could go and collect him but first we had to pay a £10 admin charge - very suspicious - and we needed to email our payment details to Vets4Pets so payment could be made as their card machine would be off and not taking cash.
“We drove to Vets4Pets first and of course no one was there. This person claimed to be from the RSPCA and said his name was Jamie Amprint, obviously we didn't email our payment details but to scam a family whose cat is missing is the lowest f*****g thing someone could do.
“We obviously were suspicious but there will be lots of people out there with missing pets that may fall for this scam.
“We are totally disgusted.”
A spokesperson for RSPCA said 'sadly' this is not the first incident of its kind that has been brought to their attention.
They said: "We are disgusted by reports that scammers are preying on upset people who have lost their pets.
“We do not ask for money for veterinary care for missing pets over the phone in this way and would urge anyone who receives such a call not to give out their personal details.
“If anyone is contacted about a missing pet in RSPCA care they should ask for a reference number and the officer’s name and call our national call centre on 0300 1234999
“If the call is not genuine please report this to the police immediately.”
