FORSYTH COUNTY, GA. — The founder of a Georgia animal shelter is warning pet owners after customers and the shelter were scammed out of thousands of dollars.
Furkids is a non-profit located in Forsyth County that raises money to support its no-kill animal shelter, the largest in Georgia.
“Well, we just feel at Furkids, we are under an attack. A scammer attack,” Samantha Shelton, founder and CEO of Furkids Animal Rescue and Shelters.
Shelton says there have been a number of scams against her business and she just can’t believe how savvy scam artists are becoming. Shelton says the multiple scams takes their time and energy away from the animals.
“We’ve had a few situations recently,” she adds. “We were in the process of building a new dog shelter, and we had to pay one of our vendors. It was a little over $15,000, and we mailed the check.”
But, Shelton said the check was intercepted and scammers forged a new name on the check and were able to cash it.
She adds that the company has filed a police report, but she’s not hopeful that they’ll ever see that money.
“Our bank is being very helpful trying to help us recover the funds,” added Shelton. “And we have the individual’s name on the back of the check. There’s a Texas address, but I’ve been told by authorities it is very difficult to go after these individuals, and that’s just very frustrating.”
Shelton said a man came over the weekend to ask about his cat and said the man told her he had received a phone call about his missing cat poster for his missing four-year-old Maine Coon kitty.
Shelton adds that over the phone, the man was told his cat was involved in a car accident and the Furkids organization needed $2,700 for surgery costs.
“The individual on the phone said, we are with Furkids, and we have your cat,” she added. “But that was so not true. Unfortunately, the man sent the money and then came to the shelter and asked, how is my cat?”
However, Furkids had never serviced the cat.
Shelton is warning people to “use caution, and make sure to validate any calls like that, and anyone requesting money on behalf of Furkids.”
She added, “we would never ask someone for money like that, especially over the phone.”
“We work with a lot of animals, and it is possible that people would hear our name and say, oh, that’s legitimate, and they would send the money. But please know, we would never, we would never do anything like that. I am so sorry to hear all this,” said Shelton.
To add insult to injury, Furkids is also dealing with “fake Venmo accounts.”
“Every day, there’s a new Furkids account popping up through Venmo,” said Shelton. “And, it’s not a legitimate account.”
So, Shelton wants people to “look closely at the account. “They’re using our logo, they’re using our name, but there’s a subtle difference in the actual pay line,” she adds. “They’ll have two S’s, or, you know, some subtle difference, and if you’re not paying close attention it’s possible that you’re going to be sending money to a fake account.”
The non-profit says they’ve asked Venmo to take down the fake accounts, but they just keep coming.
The process has taken days and in some cases, weeks.
Meanwhile, the cons keep coming against this animal shelter.
“They’re getting away with these crimes against individuals and nonprofit organizations,” she adds. “And it’s very unfortunate. We work very hard to raise the funds to care for thousands of animals every year here at Furkids, and it’s disheartening that we are being attacked.”
Shelton says it’s overwhelming.
“Three different scams going on all at once. I’m not kidding when I say I feel really overwhelmed and it is a burden and it’s not a burden that we should have to bear,” she continued.
Shelton says Furkids is only focused on “trying to do our life-saving work here and not be distracted by thieves taking advantage. And it’s, it’s scary, to be quite honest with you.”
For more information on Furkids, click here.
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