ST. LOUIS — There is a new scam that’s targeting families who’ve lost their pets claiming the pet is hurt and they need money for surgery.
Gina Fourell and her wife said their cat, Riley, has been missing since the end of January.
“We've been posting everywhere we can. We go on nightly foot searches with flashlights. We have called for her, put out food, bed (and) litter box. Anything that might be helpful to help her find her way home. We've been trying all those things,” Fourell said.
Weeks later, they got an unexpected phone call from someone that said Riley had been found.
“Four days ago, a man contacted us at about 3 p.m. and said that he had our cat. That the cat had been brought in to CARE STL and that a good Samaritan had found her on Jamieson Avenue and that she'd been hit by a car and she needed emergency surgery to repair her shoulder blade. (It) was causing paralysis and that we needed to make a deposit immediately via Apple Pay,” Fourell said.
Fourell said the details of the call were so specific and in a matter of minutes they sent him $540.
After a few hours, and an email exchange with the man who called himself Jack Richardson they went up to CARE STL only to find out it was a scam and the shelter didn’t have their cat.
“Who would think that someone could be so evil to to prey on people in a vulnerable moment like that and then even try to take it further and ask for more money is just absurd,” Fourell said.
CARE STL Executive Director Abbie Atteberry said the entire situation is upsetting.
“We do not want people out there impersonating CARE and acting like we would do these things that are not best practice and would not be how we would handle a situation at all,” Atteberry said.
Atteberry said she wants others to know they’ll never ask for any payments over the phone or through email.
“We would never require someone to send money without coming to the shelter, identifying that it is their pet. We would have a conversation about any potential expenses that needed to be paid,” Atteberry said.
But even after all of this, Fourell said their focus hasn’t changed.
“I just want my family reunited. I want my cat back home safe,” Fourell said.
Fourell said Riley is a very sweet cat and went missing from the 5400 block of Lindenwood Avenue.
“She's a gray tabby. She's just a little bit of, brownish red in her. She's 12 years old and well-fed. She was wearing a neon yellow collar and it had a Tile chip in it, but, the battery had died, so we weren't able to track her location,” Fourell said.
If you find Riley or see her, you can email the family at bf.gt.2016@gmail.com.
Atteberry said if you ever receive a call like this make sure you verify the information with the rescue, shelter or animal hospital they say they’re calling from.
You can find CARE STL’s email and phone number at the bottom of their website, along with adoptable cats and dogs.
The family said they are in the process of filing a police report and have found a person using this same name has done this in other states.
If you receive a call like this notify the police right away.