Sumner police are warning families about a new scam that’s targeting missing pet owners.
A spokesperson for the City of Sumner said a missing pet owner was contacted last Wednesday by a scammer who claimed to have their pet.
“Saying they had their cat, but they demanded payment, or they were going to kill the cat,” Carmen Palmer, City of Sumner’s communications director, said. “This is a horrible scam.”
The victim was allegedly targeted as the city is seeing a rise in the number of missing pets.
Sumner saw a 20 percent increase in lost pets from 2022 to 2023, Palmer told KIRO 7 News.
#SCAMALERT: Sumner police tell me scammers are targeting missing pet owners. Officials tell me they're impersonating...
Posted by Louie Tran on Friday, July 19, 2024
Palmer said she believes scammers are taking advantage of the situation and people’s emotions.
“Scams are most successful when they play on emotions, when they get people when they are already not at their best, at an emotional state. So, when you have a lost pet already, you can imagine the emotions around that. Feeling frantic. And then to hear ‘we’re going to kill your pet, if you don’t pay up’ is just horrible,” she said.
The issue is not widespread, yet, Palmer said, but police are trying to get ahead of the issue before anyone else falls victim.
KIRO 7 News spoke with Robert Coyer, who has been posting flyers around the city as he searches for his missing cat, Bubba.
Coyer said he believes someone stole his cat a couple of months ago after he found his pet’s collar in the grass field of Siebenthaler Park on Bonney Avenue.
“I have been searching for him ever since. I’ve gone door to door. I’ve gone out with flyers. I go out once a week looking for him,” he said.
The new scam makes his search for his beloved loved one feel extremely difficult, he said.
“I think that’s foul. That’s a new level of low. I think that’s foul,” he shared. “I think to try and take advantage of people in a vulnerable state has no dignity.”
The new scam may severely impact many older Americans, who have developed a special and personal relationship with their pet, said Kari Connell, a pet owner.
“If it’s an older person maybe that is already susceptible to scams, and they have a pet, it’s all they have. And they might be very willing to pay someone like that,” she shared.
Palmer told KIRO 7 News that scammers often create a sense of urgency within their messages, hoping victims would react before they have a chance to think.
“Scams come with threats. There’s always a really bad thing that will happen,” she said.
If you fall victim to this scam, you’re urged to hang up, Palmer added.
Missing pet owners can call 253-299-PETS if their loved one is missing, at no charge.
If you have seen Coyer’s cat, he is asking you to call him at 253-227-5089.
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