It’s a big part of our mission to fight against French Bulldog scams to protect puppy parents and promote ethical breeding. ‘But they seemed to be so nice.’ – we hear victims referring to scammers, who obviously never look like bad guys. They know all the little tricks to look real, read below how to spot these.
Fake photos
The point of a scam is that it looks so real. All the puppies look purebred, genuine and healthy. This is because they are! We have found our own TomKings Puppies photos used by scammers to mislead innocent parents who rightly thought they would get Frenchies from award-winning bloodlines. But the scammers have never owned those pups!
There are several online tools that can be used to remove original watermarks and logos from a photo, to be replaced with the logo of the fake breeder. But fortunately, the internet doesn’t forget, and with an easy Google Image search you can find out if there are duplicates of the photo or if it belongs to a stock photo database.
Fake reviews
The point of a review is social proof: we can hear directly from other customers about their experience. This seems to be more reliable than hearing from the seller, especially when it comes from the customer’s social media account. Scammers know it too well and have very sophisticated strategies of creating fake social media accounts and adding the reviews from there. It’s also possible to buy followers, comments, likes, and testimonials, so be careful.
You can spot these scams, by checking the profiles of the reviewers. Do they have photos of their pup, or of anything? Do they have other connections?
TomKings Puppies has a very active closed Facebook Group where real clients share real tips about their real – and very happy – puppies:)
Fake deals
Raising a healthy and happy Frenchie has its costs and it has to be reflected in the price – just in case of anything else. But who doesn’t want a good deal! And scammers know it too well and always give you a good excuse for the deal. ‘We are now moving the farm and need to urgently sell the puppies.’ It is one of the most frequent ones, don’t fall for these.
It’s about your future best friend, your family member. If you want to have a healthy Frenchie who doesn’t have genetic problems, who has received all the attention, care, the best food and vitamins from birth, you have to pay the price.
Fake dealers
Don’t forget that the point of a scam is to look real, but be suspicious if you experience one of these:
- they push you to make a decision by saying there are other customers who want that pup.
- they don’t come back to you if you have questions.
- they are reluctant to show you the pup via video or skype, they always tell you excuses.
- They give you only general information, avoiding the details.
These dealers either run a puppy farm where they raise unhealthy pups or simply want to rip you off and take your money. If you want real Frenchies, check our available puppies here.
The article was written based on the experience and the services of the TomKings Puppies Team. TomKings Puppies have been breeding French Bulldogs for 12 years on their farm. All the pictures in the post belong to them and show a puppy from their breed. Check their available puppies here, or if you have any questions or comments let us know below the article.
