Couple uses puppy sale to lure people into giving them money – how to make sure this doesn’t happen to you

For those of you looking for new four-legged friends, dog breeders have a warning for you. They want you to beware of potential scammers selling puppies online.

This comes after two people were arrested in Hendry County as they pretended to sell puppies but used the money they received for drugs.

They had a plot to get money for crack. They told would-be customers that they had a dog for sale, but there was never any dog.

These two got people’s hopes up and made them believe they were about to receive a new addition to their family. But, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office says that Paul Walker and Jodi Pipkins cashed in on the emotions of others.

An arrest report says the couple placed ads on Facebook saying they had dogs for sale. They had people message them then send along the money. But those hopefuls were never going to get a dog.

So, WINK News spoke to a Hendry County dog breeder who sells puppies online. We asked him how to protect you and your family.

David Lawrence is a dog breeder. “Ask for more than one video. It’s harder to fake than just a snapshot. So ask for a video and then, a couple days later, ask for another video with the pup that you’re interested in, in both videos. So it’s harder to do to scam people that way,” Lawrence said.

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