Tamara Watkin was brought to tears Tuesday, flipping through memories of her old dog Cooper, who died just months ago.
“I had him for 13, going on 14 years,” said the Duncan resident.
Yet, she said that grief is what scammers preyed on when she went looking for a new puppy.
“It’s people’s hearts and emotions that they’re playing with,” said Watkin.
Watkin and her daughter found a rescue on social media, which called itself Revival Adoption Centre.
“With the name of it, I just thought it could be honest people because it sounded like a church group,” said Watkin.
After a few days texting with the rescue, the Duncan mom sent $950 by e-transfer for both a female puppy and to courier it, from what she said she was told was the rescue’s location in the Okanagan.
“She got back to me and said yeah we got it worked out and tomorrow never came. Then tomorrow never came. Then she stopped answering all my messages,” said Watkin.
According to Watkin, who was already struggling with anxiety and PTSD, that’s when it sunk in that she had been scammed.
“I told her about me being on disability, and my daughter and her disability and she still did it,” said Watkin.
So Watkin had to tell her autistic daughter Savanna, that their puppy who she’d already named Violet, wasn’t coming.
“I was getting worried,” said Savanna Watkin.
Watkin reported the loss to Duncan North Cowichan RCMP but she said she was told it appears to be an international scam and that she’s unlikely to ever see her money again. So the animal lover is hoping to save someone else from a similar heartbreak.
“Money is tight right now. Not everybody can afford to line the pockets of others,” said Watkin.
She urges people to look closely into the rescue they’re adopting from, only to adopt from reputable ones and never to pay upfront — advice echoed by the RCMP and Better Business Bureau.
A Duncan mom sent $950 by e-transfer for this puppy only to be learned that it was a complete scam.
Skye Ryan
