So called 'puppy fraud' on the rise across North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire Police's Detective Inspector Jon Hodgeon's been telling us about it
Last updated 3rd Nov 2020
People living in North Yorkshire are being warned about a recent rise in 'puppy' fraud.
It's as the number of scam victims across the county has continued to increase over lockdown.
Detective Inspector Jon Hodgeon says criminals will always look to exploit the latest craze...
"People have perhaps been looking to invest in a family pet over lock down, and that has left an opening for fraudsters to put up bogus adverts.
"Puppies are very scarce at the moment, so that creates a sense of panic and urgency in people-That's a really rich environment for scammers, so take some time to think through everything before you make a purchase.
"You can compare to the latest Christmas toy; we'll often see frauds spring up around these type of things-criminals unfortunately look to take advantage of popularity."
Overall, fraud's gone up across North Yorkshire on a yearly basis since 2017.