Dog adoption scam: Whangārei woman’s warning to others after losing hundreds of dollars

A photo of the puppy used to swindle a Whangārei woman out of money.

A Whangārei woman thought she was giving a dog a new loving home, but instead found herself the victim of an online scam that lost her hundreds of dollars.

The 61-year-old, who did not want to be named, was duped into buying the same prepaid vouchers as an target="_blank">82-year-old Whangārei woman who was swindled out of nearly $40,000.

The woman was scrolling through Facebook when she came across a post calling out for people interested in adopting a pet dog.

“The lady said she had just lost her husband and her child was sick in hospital. It was a big sob story and I fell for it,” the woman said.

The woman, excited to have found her daughter and grandchildren the “perfect” pet dog, contacted the owner through Messenger.

She was sent photos of a young husky, its puppy-dog eyes staring straight into the camera, and a video of the dog obeying a woman’s command to “speak” - a trait huskies are notorious for.

The woman had been excited to find the "perfect" puppy for her grandkids.

The scammer wrote to the woman about how she wanted an “absolutely reliable” home for the puppy where they could visit because “we love her so much”.

She provided thorough information about the husky’s age - 14 weeks old - its weight, vaccination information, and its “easily” sociable nature with kids and other pets.

“She asked me if I could go down and purchase Neosurf vouchers to help shift the dog up from Whakatāne,” the woman said.

The woman, not suspecting a thing, popped down to Caltex in Whangārei and bought $350 worth of vouchers. Neosurf is a prepaid payment method utilising a unique 10-digit code that allows you to spend money from top-ups by entering the code on the company’s partner sites.

She immediately snapped a picture of them and sent it through to the online scammer, as instructed.

“I never ever thought anything of it. I thought it was all above board,” the woman said.

That was until the supposed dog owner asked for another $750 of Neosurf vouchers to fix a problem with the dog cage.

“That set my alarm bells ringing,” the woman said.

She took her time to reply, which frustrated the scammer, who kept pestering her to find out what was taking so long.

“I just went, ‘Oh my God, this is a scam’.”

The woman rushed back to Caltex hoping to cancel the vouchers, but it was too late.

“I thought I was doing a good thing. I’m devastated. I keep thinking, ‘My God, $350, that could’ve been spent on my grandkids’.”

Her bank told her it couldn’t cancel the transaction because she had made the purchase.

The woman hoped sharing her experience would save others from similar pain.

“I would just like for all people to be aware of these scams,” she said.

“I just feel for everyone who has had this happen. I learned my lesson.”

A 2019 warning from Queensland police about Neosurf scams showed the ruse was nothing new.

Ipswich District Police said scammers were contacting elderly and vulnerable victims via telephone or online and had their victims’ personal information.

“The scammer then claims to be from a legitimate organisation, for example, the victim’s bank.

“The victim is then told they need to pay a sum of money by way of Neosurf voucher to resolve an issue.”

They are then directed to a retail outlet where the vouchers are sold and told to provide the codes to the scammer, after which their money is gone.

“Unsolicited offers which seem too good to be true or which require you to give out bank account details or other personal information are likely to be scams,” Ipswich police said.