A SCAMMER has been accused of the cruellest con yet swindling hundreds out of people desperate to buy a puppy.
Google has sued a man for setting up the merciless ruse which targets the elderly and most vulnerable.
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Nche Noel, from Cameroon, allegedly used cute purebred basset hound puppy photos to lure unsuspecting buyers in.
One victim sent $700/£538 worth of electronic gift cards in hope of getting a pet.
They were later told they had to cough up an extra $1,500/£1153 to cover delivery fees.
But the unfortunate person never received the puppy.
Google claims the man made false promises using its products, including Google Voice phone numbers and Gmail, with dozens of bogus accounts.
The scheme involved a network of dodgy websites, which used Google Ads to promote them.
Google was alerted to the devastating problem in September by AARP, a group that looks out for the interests of vulnerable retired people.
“The actor used a network of fraudulent websites that claimed to sell basset hound puppies — with alluring photos and fake customer testimonials — in order to take advantage of people during the pandemic,” the tech giant said.
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“This type of scheme follows a similar script to many online scams where malicious actors pretend to be someone they are not to convince victims to give them money for something they will never receive.”
Cyber security expert Jake Moore, from ESET, said tapping into people’s emotions who are set on a puppy is a classic technique in making a scam work.
“More support has been desperately required to help vulnerable people in spotting the fakes from the genuine artefact,” he said.
How to spot a puppy scam
According to The Puppy Scammer List, con artists will say the pet is held somewhere less accessible or overseas.
They will usually ask where you live first before saying where they are – they’ll then say they are situated on the other side of the country to you.
When you’ve agreed to buy one, they will demand that you pay in advance via a money or bank transfer.
The American Kennel Club says gift cards are a particularly sketchy way of paying.
And scammers tend to go for copycat or stock photos with the same ad text used from other sites – so copy and paste the text to see if it’s used elsewhere.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
