The Reno-Tahoe International Airport has received about a dozen reports over the past year of a pet adoption scam that’s claiming to operate in conjunction with the airport. Reno Public Radio's Bree Zender reports.
The scam typically comes from legitimate-looking websites where it appears that you can order an animal to be delivered to Reno. The scammers ask for up to $1,700 to be wired up front for the pets. The companies then ask the customers to pick the pets up at the airport, but the animals never arrive.
“And even just this past week, we had a person come into the airport, thinking they were going to pick up two monkeys they had purchased,” said Airport Spokesperson Brian Kulpin.
He said he knows of one other airport that is experiencing this problem.
“There’s very little crime at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport,” Kulpin said. “This is the first time we’ve seen an internet scam like this, and the fact that they use our address or they use our phone number is really something that upsets us.”
The airport is working with the Better Business Bureau and the FBI to prevent this from happening.
