Scammers trick Lincoln woman with Yorkie Puppy scam - KOLN

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -Scammers target everyone, from across state lines and oceans, trying to get at a person’s hard-earned money. While many go unreported, at least a few each day is reported in Lincoln.

Last week, one of those was Tammy Tobias, a Lincoln woman who was scammed after trying to add a new member to her family.

“A friend of mine knew I wanted another dog and she saw this post on Facebook and said ‘hey look at these Yorkies,’” Tobias said.

Tammy reached out to the person she thought was in Lincoln, who she thought was selling Yorkie puppies, and put down a $255 deposit through Cash App to reserve the last female puppy in the litter before it was gone.

“Then they asked for more money and I’m like wait a minute something is wrong here,” Tobias said. “Just a gut feeling.”

She was the victim of an impostor scam, where someone pretends to be somebody they’re not. The Attorney General’s Office sees impostor scams ranging from callers pretending to be with the IRS, the electric company, a jailer holding a grandchild for bail, or just like in Tammy’s case, someone selling something they never intended to hand over.

“If the offer is too good to be true it probably is,” said Ryan Sothan, Outreach Coordinator at the Attorney General’s Office. “If it’s too bad to be believed don’t fall for the bait. If it’s too compelling to ignore do some careful checking.”

The Attorney General’s Office said impostor scams are the most common type reported. The Federal Trade Commission reported 690 impostor scams in Nebraska so far this year, that’s 35% of all scams reported in the state. The data shows that 15% of them happened in Lincoln.

The red flag to watch out for, that Tammy noted in her case, was pressure.

“When urgency is applied that sometime needs to be done not now, but right now, this minute, in the course of this phone call,” Sothan said.

They said if you find yourself in this position, take your time, vet the caller and do a little more research. Tammy said these are the steps she’d encourage anyone to take because her $225 is done.

“I’m hoping this doesn’t happen to someone else,” Tobias said. “That if they see it on Facebook, see a nice little doge that someone else won’t do the same thing and get scammed out of money for a dog they’re not going to get.”

10/11 NOW is going to be covering more stories like this, highlighting scams and consumer issues out there impacting people in Lincoln right now.

If you have a story to share, send us an email.

The Attorney General’s Office has a consumer protection webpage, dedicated to providing resources related to scams. Click this link to learn more.

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