Most puppy scams in India follow the same script. There's a beautiful photo, a price a little below everyone else's, a seller who replies within minutes, and a reason you have to pay now. The puppy may not exist at all. Or it exists but isn't the puppy in the photo. Or it's real but sick and undocumented.
Puppy scams succeed because they're aimed at excitement, not at your intelligence. The fix is to know the script before it starts. Here are the twelve warning signs that come up again and again, what each one usually means, and what to do instead.
The money red flags
1. A price well below everyone else's
Prices for a healthy, vaccinated puppy of a given breed fall within a fairly narrow range in any region. A listing far below that range usually means one of three things: the puppy doesn't exist, it's missing its health care, or it isn't the breed advertised. Vaccination, deworming and vet checks cost money, and a cheap price usually means someone skipped them.
2. "Pay now or someone else gets it"
"Only two left." "Another family is coming tonight." Urgency stops you asking questions, and that's its whole purpose. A genuine seller with real demand can still wait a day for you to check documents.
3. New charges after the first payment
This is the classic Indian puppy scam. You pay the advance, then a "courier" or "pet relocation" contact asks for a crate fee. Next comes "airline insurance", then a "vaccination certificate charge", then a "quarantine release fee". Every payment is presented as the last one and as refundable. None of it is. A real sale has one total, agreed before you pay anything.
4. Payment to a personal account with a different name
If the UPI ID or bank account belongs to a name that doesn't match the seller or their business, ask why. Scammers rotate accounts. Paying through a store's own checkout, which issues an order number and receipt, leaves a record a personal UPI transfer doesn't.
Rule of thumb: once you've paid an advance, any request for a further payment that wasn't in the price you agreed is a reason to stop and verify, not to pay faster.
The proof red flags
5. Photos that are too perfect, or show up elsewhere
Studio-quality pictures with the same background across many "different" puppies are a warning. So are photos that appear on other sellers' pages. Run the image through a reverse image search such as Google Lens. It takes thirty seconds and catches a surprising number of scams.
6. No fresh photo or video on request
Ask for a new photo of the puppy next to a note with today's date or your name, and a short video of it moving. Anyone with the puppy in front of them can do this in a minute. A string of excuses ("the puppy is sleeping", "my phone camera is broken", "the breeder is in another city") is the answer.
7. No vaccination card, or one that looks copied
A real vaccination card shows dates and the vaccine sticker with a batch number, and usually a vet's stamp. Watch for the same card being sent for several puppies, or the same handwriting and dates across different litters. Our puppy documents guide shows what a usable record looks like.
8. Ages that don't add up
The seller says two months, but the date of birth makes it five weeks. Or the first vaccination is dated before the puppy was born. Arithmetic errors are the most common way invented stories break down, so always do the sums.
The seller red flags
9. Can't answer simple breed questions
Ask what health problems are common in the breed, how much grooming it needs, or how it copes with heat. Someone who has raised the litter answers easily. A middleman or scammer changes the subject or sends a copied paragraph.
10. "100% pure, 100% healthy, guaranteed"
Big promises with nothing in writing behind them are a marketing line, not a guarantee. Ask what exactly is covered, for how long, and what proof you'd need to claim. A real guarantee has conditions and is written down. Ours is in the refund policy.
11. The story keeps changing
The location moves from Delhi to Jaipur. The price drops when you hesitate and rises when you seem keen. The mother is "at the vet" one day and "sold" the next. Keep your messages and read back through them. Inconsistency shows up quickly when you look for it.
12. Nothing in writing
No invoice, no written terms, no order number, just chat messages and a UPI ID. If anything goes wrong you have nothing to point to. Before paying, ask for the price, the puppy's details and the cancellation terms in writing.
What to do if you spot these signs
- Pause. Real puppies don't disappear because you took a day to check.
- Ask one specific follow-up. "Please send the vaccination card photo" is harder to dodge than "is everything okay?"
- Compare. Put the same 20 questions to a second seller and compare the quality of the answers.
- Don't send further money for charges you didn't agree to at the start.
- If you've already been cheated, report it at once on the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or at cybercrime.gov.in, and tell your bank. Speed matters for freezing transfers.
How Nearby Pets India handles these points
We publish what we do so you can check it against this list. The full price on each listing shows shipping and GST before checkout. Orders are placed through the website with an order number and receipt. Before dispatch, every puppy must be at least 45 days old, carry its first vaccination on its health card, and have a vet's Fit-for-Travel clearance. After booking, our team does a live video call when the puppy is collected from the farm, and sends photos and video on WhatsApp, so you can confirm the exact puppy before it travels. Cancellation windows are written in the refund policy, and our payment and fraud policy explains how we handle payments. If you see a page or account using our name to ask for money in some other way, contact us before paying.
For everything in one place, see the puppy buyer's checklist.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most common puppy scam in India?
The advance-then-extra-fees scam. A buyer pays a booking amount for a puppy seen online, then gets asked for more money for a crate, insurance, vaccination papers or quarantine. Often the puppy never existed.
How do I know if a puppy seller on Instagram is genuine?
Ask for a fresh photo of the puppy with today's date written beside it, a photo of the vaccination card, and one total price in writing. Reverse-search the listing photos. A genuine seller handles all of this without pressure.
Is a very cheap puppy always a scam?
Not always, but it is always worth asking why. Very low prices usually mean the puppy is missing vaccinations, deworming or vet checks, isn't the breed claimed, or doesn't exist.
What should I do if I already paid a puppy scammer?
Stop all further payments, call the national cybercrime helpline 1930 or file at cybercrime.gov.in straight away, and inform your bank with the transaction details. Keep every chat and screenshot as evidence.
Can a seller ask for transport insurance after I pay?
All transport costs should be part of the total price agreed before payment. A new insurance or crate charge after the advance is one of the most common signs of a scam.
