Scammer Story
Recently I spoke with a heartbroken older lady who had just been scammed for $2500.
She had contacted me to buy a kitten. I told her I had a waiting list and nothing available immediately.
She called me a couple days later thrilled that she had found a kitten in another state that would be arriving the next day.
They told her it was a show kitten and a very rare color,(Blue Bi-color).
I was instantly sick inside.
I knew she had gotten scammed.
I tried for several days to help her get her money back but to no avail.
She was devastated
Don't let this happen to you.
Recently I spoke with a heartbroken older lady who had just been scammed for $2500.
She had contacted me to buy a kitten. I told her I had a waiting list and nothing available immediately.
She called me a couple days later thrilled that she had found a kitten in another state that would be arriving the next day.
They told her it was a show kitten and a very rare color,(Blue Bi-color).
I was instantly sick inside.
I knew she had gotten scammed.
I tried for several days to help her get her money back but to no avail.
She was devastated
Don't let this happen to you.
Red Flags!!!
1. Available immediately. Almost every breeder that I know of has a waiting list. There are a very few that chose not to have a waiting list at all and their kittens are posted as soon as they are ready to go home. But these are by far the exception not the rule. (#6 blue below tells how to tell these apart)
2.Discounted price. No-one is discounting kittens these days. This is a dead give away that it is a scammer. Ragdolls are selling for $1200 and up, depending on the local. If the cattery is selling for less I would assume it is a scam!
3. Won't take calls, they only deal through emails and texts. That is usually because they can't speak English and they are running the conversation through a translator app. I absolutely wouldn't deal with anyone who won't answer a phone call.
4. Broken English or halting English in texts, emails, or on the website. google translate does a great job but never perfect. All of us have the occasional typo. It usually shows up in tenses or grammar errors.
5. Professional Photos. This isn't always a sure thing, I think my photos look pretty good. But be warry of too good of photos. I know for myself, I have kitten fatigue by the time I am done wrestling two poses with one kitten. Breeders just don't have the time to take perfect pictures.
6. A Web address that can't be googled. Try to google the web address, if it doesn't show up it is a fake address even if it shows up in the URL when you are on their page.
7. Will ship today or tomorrow. it takes a couple days minimum to set up shipping or flights for delivery. I refuse to ship kittens.
8. Will only accept payment in a non-reversible method like PayPal friends and family vs. PayPal business.
Ways to Be Sure you are dealing with a real Breeder with real Kittens!!!
1. Talk with them on the phone. A breeder will be more than willing to answer your questions.
2. Check their Google Reviews. How many do they have and are they positive? If they have negative ones read and find out why. As with any business you can't please everyone all the time and some people are really unreasonable customers.
3. Get References. Veterinarian, past customers, mentors. A good breeder should have nothing to hide.
4. google: "cattery name" bad reviews. this will dig up hidden dirt if any.
5. check their registration on TICA. if you are going to check TICA, remember there are two ways of doing this, TICA has a Pay to be on, breeder listing state by state, this is a paid advertising list. I don't need to pay to advertise so you won't find me on this listing. TICA also has a cattery registry. This is where you will find all breeders, if they are registered with TICA and have TICA papered purebred kittens. Also remember that TICA will not let a breed name be used in a cattery registered name. So a Ragdoll cattery will not say "Ragdoll" in their Registered name. We are listed as ASPENDOLLS.
6. !!!!Ask for more pictures of the kitten!!!!. This is an excellent way to ascertain if they actually have kittens. Ask for unusual pictures like a picture of the head in profile and the hocks (back of back legs) and the top of the head and ears and the kittens back from above. If they don't have a kitten these pictures will be impossible to get of the same kitten, off the internet.
7. Ask for a picture of kitten with mom and with dad. kitten mills never want you to see the condition of their adults and scammers don't have the adults.
8.Never pay for the whole kitten before seeing the kitten in person the day of pickup. Either buy local or travel to the breeders house to pick up the kitten and pay when you have the kitten in hand.
9. Visit the breeders home and meet adults. Many catteries will not allow visitors before a customer has put down a deposit. The reason I don't allow visitors before a deposit is because, in the past I didn't have that rule and people would come out just to play with ragdolls. Or they would be shopping catteries. Which means they were going from cattery to cattery. This goes against all my health protocols for the safety of my animals. But once you have put a deposit down I am happy to have you come and meet my adults and see my home. I have even had customers pay their deposit at the door and then come in and meet my adults. They just wanted to lay eyes on me before they handed over any money. This never bothers me.
1. Available immediately. Almost every breeder that I know of has a waiting list. There are a very few that chose not to have a waiting list at all and their kittens are posted as soon as they are ready to go home. But these are by far the exception not the rule. (#6 blue below tells how to tell these apart)
2.Discounted price. No-one is discounting kittens these days. This is a dead give away that it is a scammer. Ragdolls are selling for $1200 and up, depending on the local. If the cattery is selling for less I would assume it is a scam!
3. Won't take calls, they only deal through emails and texts. That is usually because they can't speak English and they are running the conversation through a translator app. I absolutely wouldn't deal with anyone who won't answer a phone call.
4. Broken English or halting English in texts, emails, or on the website. google translate does a great job but never perfect. All of us have the occasional typo. It usually shows up in tenses or grammar errors.
5. Professional Photos. This isn't always a sure thing, I think my photos look pretty good. But be warry of too good of photos. I know for myself, I have kitten fatigue by the time I am done wrestling two poses with one kitten. Breeders just don't have the time to take perfect pictures.
6. A Web address that can't be googled. Try to google the web address, if it doesn't show up it is a fake address even if it shows up in the URL when you are on their page.
7. Will ship today or tomorrow. it takes a couple days minimum to set up shipping or flights for delivery. I refuse to ship kittens.
8. Will only accept payment in a non-reversible method like PayPal friends and family vs. PayPal business.
Ways to Be Sure you are dealing with a real Breeder with real Kittens!!!
1. Talk with them on the phone. A breeder will be more than willing to answer your questions.
2. Check their Google Reviews. How many do they have and are they positive? If they have negative ones read and find out why. As with any business you can't please everyone all the time and some people are really unreasonable customers.
3. Get References. Veterinarian, past customers, mentors. A good breeder should have nothing to hide.
4. google: "cattery name" bad reviews. this will dig up hidden dirt if any.
5. check their registration on TICA. if you are going to check TICA, remember there are two ways of doing this, TICA has a Pay to be on, breeder listing state by state, this is a paid advertising list. I don't need to pay to advertise so you won't find me on this listing. TICA also has a cattery registry. This is where you will find all breeders, if they are registered with TICA and have TICA papered purebred kittens. Also remember that TICA will not let a breed name be used in a cattery registered name. So a Ragdoll cattery will not say "Ragdoll" in their Registered name. We are listed as ASPENDOLLS.
6. !!!!Ask for more pictures of the kitten!!!!. This is an excellent way to ascertain if they actually have kittens. Ask for unusual pictures like a picture of the head in profile and the hocks (back of back legs) and the top of the head and ears and the kittens back from above. If they don't have a kitten these pictures will be impossible to get of the same kitten, off the internet.
7. Ask for a picture of kitten with mom and with dad. kitten mills never want you to see the condition of their adults and scammers don't have the adults.
8.Never pay for the whole kitten before seeing the kitten in person the day of pickup. Either buy local or travel to the breeders house to pick up the kitten and pay when you have the kitten in hand.
9. Visit the breeders home and meet adults. Many catteries will not allow visitors before a customer has put down a deposit. The reason I don't allow visitors before a deposit is because, in the past I didn't have that rule and people would come out just to play with ragdolls. Or they would be shopping catteries. Which means they were going from cattery to cattery. This goes against all my health protocols for the safety of my animals. But once you have put a deposit down I am happy to have you come and meet my adults and see my home. I have even had customers pay their deposit at the door and then come in and meet my adults. They just wanted to lay eyes on me before they handed over any money. This never bothers me.