Never think you are buying a Siberian Kitten for AED1500 – AED3500 on the Internet and having it shipped to you! If you think you have found one that cheap, the only way you hand over the money is if you meet the breeder in person, period! We receive daily phone calls and emails from people whose fake websites and Instagram pages have scammed them. The highest ratio of scammers is on Instagram because it takes little to no effort to toss together an Instagram account. When we hear that people have been scammed by an Instagram scammer or received a kitten that was not the cat in the photo, it’s hard to feel sorry for them because it’s like, “What were you thinking?” You may as well have been trying to buy a pet on dubizzle.

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So you ask, how can I be sure that the person I am talking to is honest and real? We will give you some tips and tricks below to help you search for your furry family member.

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• NEVER buy a cat off of Instagram! The chance of you getting the kitty in the picture is slim to none. True businesses have websites, not just Instagram/Facebook accounts.

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• “Breeders/Scammers” can toss together a quick little 5-10 page website with little to no experience, then say “We have been breeding cats for 20+ years”. How can you tell if they are real breeders and or experienced breeders? Check the age of the website. Here is the link to a website age checker. Now, perhaps they have been in business many more years than their website age reflects, but it is never a good idea to move forward with a website that is a few years old when the breeder claims to have been in business for decades. That’s just old fashion common sense. Not only do you stand a much better chance of being scammed, but there are so many pop-up breeders (here today, gone tomorrow) selling sick kittens and breeding cats with zero genetic testing your chances of getting a cat that will generate huge vet bills and most likely not live to see five years old is increased tremendously.

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• Is the business an accredited business? Check the website and see if that “business/cat breeder” is an accredited business member. If not, I would steer clear of them. They have no trustworthy accreditation backing their business or even verifying they are who they say they are.

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• Trust your gut feeling if something feels off to you. Stop communicating with the individual immediately. Online pet scammers are usually very pushy and want you to immediately move forward with the purchase. They always have little knowledge of the breed, zero knowledge of feline genetics, basic knowledge of feline care and high praise of themselves especially via self written reviews.  You’re just asking for trouble.

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• And the most important. Pedigree! If you are purchasing a purebred kitten, it must always come with a pedigree certificate, there is no excuse for the breeder not to apply for the pedigree certificate even if he lives on Mars.

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I hope this page has shed some light on the sinister things actively affecting pet buyers in today’s day and age.