Savannah Cat Fraud, Scams, and Backyard Breeders: How to Outwit and Avoid Them All!
Savannah cats have increased in popularity over the years, as have the myths surrounding them. Misinformation has also added to the exotic mythology surrounding Savannahs, making our beloved breed and the general desire to own one a prime target for scammers.
Indeed, everyone's seen the popular meme showing the svelte-looking Savannah with the caption that these cats weigh 40 lbs, can jump 8ft, and cost $25,000. The reality is that most Savannahs don't hit 20 lbs., let alone 30 (40 is scarce). Breeders may charge $25,000 for an exceptional first-generation cat. Still, most Savannahs fall well below that price tag, with later generations being more in line with other purebred felines' pricing.
In 2018, I started a section on my blog devoted to helping others pinpoint Savannah scammers. Since then, I've received dozens of emails from people asking about a website's legitimacy or if they'd fallen prey to a scam after a deal starts to fall apart. Some stories are heartbreaking, including one from a family trying to purchase a kitten as a Christmas gift and another from an individual whose spouse had passed away. They were looking to bring a new furry companion into their life. No one should find themselves in this position, and I'm glad to work with potential owners to help them avoid these unfortunate situations.
Understanding the different types of scams can help prospective buyers spot them easily. The most prevalent fraud is the fake breeder website. Essentially, a scammer builds a website like a breeder and uses it to lure customers. They steal photos of random Savannahs from the internet to populate the site, hoping someone will jump on their fantastic deal (scammer sites almost always have prices too good to be true). Once you make your deposit, the scammer disappears (often renaming their site and relaunching it to catch another victim).
Fake Facebook pages and groups follow a similar pattern and are the second type of scammer. Scammers may also use their personal Facebook page to solicit buyers directly. They send messages offering kittens for sale to those who've shown interest in Savannah groups or on other breeder's pages. Legitimate breeders would never "cold call" someone to foist off a kitten. Ignore and block these people entirely.
Below are my best tips to avoid the many other types of Savannah Cat scams.
1. Website quality is no indication of breeder quality or legitimacy. Most scam sites have a recently registered domain. To see the creation date, you can type the domain name into a look-up service such as https://lookup.icann.org/. If the website's less than a year old and something else in the list below reads "off," avoid purchasing from this breeder. You can also look at Facebook pages to see when they opened the account and their country of origin.
2. Look closely at the photos on the website or Facebook page. Is there cohesiveness in terms of quality in the various images? Are kittens of the same age all on different backgrounds? Do they share anything about the parents, or are they solely pictures of cute kittens they're offering for sale? If you feel something is "off," ask to see more photos of the kitten you're interested in, or perhaps ask for a Zoom or Skype call so you can verify there's a kitten. Most breeders will do this for a serious buyer.
3. Is the cattery registered with TICA (The International Cat Association)? Just because they use the "TICA" logo on their website doesn't mean they're legitimate breeders. Note that most breeders will NOT post photos of their actual TICA certificate on their website. You, the prospective buyer, must verify the breeder's TICA's legitimacy. Double-check the exact cattery name and spelling with TICA. Another known scam uses a cattery name that's very close to a well-known breeder, hoping someone won't look carefully enough. You can always try to verify any TICA papers or claimed membership with the organization.
4. Prices are a dead giveaway. There's no such thing as a healthy $950 F1 Savannah kitten. They don't exist. Ever. No, you didn't find the best bargain on the web. What you've seen is nothing more than an elaborate scam. If you've got a tight budget, I recommend looking for later-generation kittens. Breeding has come so far in the last decade, and you can find wonderfully marked later-generation kittens who have all the Savannah personalities we love. If a price is too good to be true, it is (and typically, an F1 Savannah will run upwards of $10,000).
5. Look at the reviews on the website, as scammers often include those hoping that it makes them look more real. Grab a couple of sentences from one (or from the copy in the About section), do a web search, and see if those exact phrases turn up elsewhere. The scammers often lift the text from a legitimate breeder or repeatedly regurgitate their scam literature. I once found the same "review" for a Savannah, a Maine Coon, and a DOG. The scammer had multiple sites going simultaneously and just changed the photos with the review on each.
6. Never place a deposit via PayPal "Friends and Family," although some legitimate breeders will request this. You want buyer protection using the paid version of the service offers. When using PayPal, watch for warnings of a payment conversion to a foreign currency (and don't believe anything about the breeder's aunt in whatever country being the one to handle the sales). Of course, there could be an exception to this somewhere, but do more to verify whether that breeder is legitimate.
The most important thing is to double-check with someone who knows the breed, has seen the most commonly used photos in scams, and is familiar with other breeders. It takes mere minutes to go onto Facebook Savannah groups (there are quite a few with high membership numbers) and ask whether a breeder's legitimate can save you money and spare you heartache. There's also a "Savannah Cat Scams and Warnings" group on Facebook that's quite popular. If you prefer to avoid Facebook, head to the Savannah Cat Chat website with your question. Breeders and owners have a supportive community when weeding out scammers and helping owners find the perfect Savannah kitten to fill their lives. Don't hesitate to talk to others about your concerns!
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