コロナ対策逆手　「子犬詐欺」急増、ネット広告８割が偽物　カナダ

【オタワＡＦＰ＝時事】新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）の流行下で、外出制限による孤独を慰めてくれるペットの需要の高まりに乗じて、子犬を求める人々から金をだまし取る詐欺がカナダで横行している。これまでに被害を訴えた人は約500人に上る。（写真は脳性まひを患うオセアヌ・マッケンジーさんと、新たに迎えた子犬のオークリー。カナダ・ケベック州の自宅にて）
　ケベック州に住むビッキー・マッケンジーさんは、脳性まひを患う娘、オセアヌさん（１１）のために犬を飼おうと考えた。「あの子は話したり走ったりできないから、同年代の子どもたちについて行くのは難しい」とマッケンジーさん。「だから、あの子のために犬を迎えるのは私たち家族にとって、とても大事なことでした」
　介助犬の申し込みをしたが、４年以上待っても順番は回ってこなかった。一家は、自分たちで犬を見つけて購入し、ロックダウン（都市封鎖）の間に訓練しようと決めた。
　だが、「Ｃａｎａｄａｐｕｐｓ．ｃｏｍ」という子犬販売サイトに掲載されていたラブラドルレトリバーの広告は、後に詐欺だったと判明した。マッケンジーさんは３００カナダ・ドル（約２万４０００円）をだまし取られ、オセアヌさんはひどく悲しみ号泣したという。
　愛犬団体「カナディアン・ケネル・クラブ」やカナダ各地の動物保護施設には今年、記録的な数の里親申請が押し寄せている。ブリーダー（繁殖業者）の元にも購入希望者は殺到し、２年待っても順番が回ってこない状態だ。一方、新型コロナ対策の影響で繁殖事業や獣医師の対応が制限されたことで、子犬の販売数は激減した。

■「犬強盗」から「犬用コロナワクチン」まで
　ブリーダーの個人情報が盗まれ、詐欺に利用される被害も相次いでいる。また、オンタリオ州トロントではブリーダーが銃を突き付けられて子犬を奪われる事件が先月２件発生。犬の繁殖そのものが危険な仕事と化している。
　高いペット需要に供給が追い付かない中で価格は高騰し、それを悪用する詐欺師の横行を許してしまっていると、詐欺対策当局は指摘する。ペット販売は今やカナダで最も急成長しているオンライン詐欺だ。
　新型コロナの感染拡大を食い止めるための公衆衛生規制は、購入希望者にペットを引き合わせることなく代金の前払いを要求する格好の口実を、詐欺師らに与えてしまった。被害に遭った人たちの多くは、温度管理ができる特殊ケージやペット保険のために必要だと言われて金を払ったと証言している。実在しないペット用ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９ワクチンの接種費用を要求された人もいた。
　企業や慈善事業などの信用度を評価する商事改善協会（ＢＢＢ）とカナダ詐欺対策センターには、今年に入って既に約５００件に上る子犬詐欺の被害相談が寄せられた。
　ＢＢＢが今月２日に発表した調査報告によると、１件当たりの平均被害額は１０００カナダ・ドル（約８万１６００円）だった。この報告書は、インターネット検索で見つかるペット販売広告の約８割は「詐欺の可能性がある」と指摘している。
　こうした広告でよく見るのは、ヨークシャーテリアやフレンチブルドッグといった犬種だ。
　マッケンジーさん一家はその後、ジャーマンシェパードの子犬を迎えることができた。「最終的にはうまくいきました」と語るマッケンジーさんのそばでは、オークリーと名付けられ元気に飛び回る子犬と、オセアヌさんが遊んでいた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/12/11-13:31）

Demand for puppies in Canada has soared during the pandemic, and scammers are taking advantage -- swindling hundreds of people looking for a pet to ease their loneliness during lockdown.
Vicki McKenzie wanted a dog for her 11-year-old daughter Oceane, who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Because she doesn't speak and can't run, it's hard for her to keep up with other 12-year-olds, McKenzie told AFP.
So it meant a lot to the family to get a dog for her, she said.
After being on a waiting list for a service animal for more than four years, the family, which lives on a treed acreage in L'Ange-Gardien, Quebec, decided to try to find a dog that they could train themselves while in lockdown.
An ad for a Labrador-Retriever on Canadapups.com, however, turned out to be a scam that cost McKenzie Can$300 (US$232).
Oceane was inconsolable. She cried a lot, McKenzie said.
The Canadian Kennel Club and animal shelters reported record levels of pet adoption applications this year.
The Toronto Humane Society, for example, received more than 10,000 calls in just the first six months of the pandemic.
And we typically see interest in adoptions go up at Christmas, the society's Hannah Sotropa said. It re-homes an average of 3,000 animals per year.
Breeders' waiting lists, meanwhile, have swelled to more than two years. Several have stopped taking new applications for puppies.
I normally get between two and seven calls a month for puppies. Lately it's been about seven to 15 calls a day, said Ontario breeder Carol Bodnieks of Newfhill Kennels.
- Dogs stolen at gunpoint -
At the same time, the number of available puppies plummeted due to pandemic measures curtailing access to stud services and veterinary care.
Some breeders had their identities stolen and used in scams. It also became a dangerous business, with two armed thefts of puppies reported in Toronto last month.
The high demand and low supply sent prices soaring, and created an opportunity for scammers to exploit, making animal adoption now the fastest growing online fraud in Canada, according to anti-fraud agencies.
Some families turned to the internet to look for a pet, thinking a pandemic puppy or kitten would help ease some of the uncertainty. Many have come across scammers advertising animals that don't exist and are never shipped, Better Business Bureau spokeswoman Jessie St-Cyr said.
Many victims, several of whom now work from home, she said, wanted to adopt a puppy in order to ease their isolation and brighten their lives during the pandemic.
Public health measures to slow the spread of the Covid-19 illness, meanwhile, gave crooks the idea to ask for money up front and make excuses as to why buyers couldn't see a prospective pet in person.
Victims were often told that they needed to send money for special climate-controlled crates, insurance and a non-existent Covid-19 pet vaccine.
The Better Business Bureau and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre received almost 500 complaints about puppy scams so far this year -- up more than three-fold from 2017, and representing one-quarter of all reported online scams.
Would-be buyers lost an average of Can$1,000 (US$775) each, according to an investigative study the Bureau released Wednesday.
- 'Our first puppy' -
McGowan Weddig of Guelph, Ontario said his family was looking at getting our first puppy because we've only had goldfish in the past.
After answering an online ad, the family received documents that looked perfectly legitimate. The scammers checked all the right boxes in terms of due diligence, Weddig said.
But, he concedes, It was our first puppy so our emotions may have gotten in the way.
After realizing he'd been cheated, Weddig said: I was mad because we're in the middle of a pandemic and some people are preying on others. I lost faith in people.
According to the Better Business Bureau study, some 80 percent of advertising links that appear in internet searches for pets may be fraudulent.
They most often offer for sale Yorkshire Terriers or French Bulldogs.
Emails obtained by AFP show con men's hard sell tactics and feigned indignation when called out.
One such scam described Pomeranian puppies that were guaranteed to be in good health and coming with all their papers.
The seller purportedly arranged shipping, but then claimed the dog missed its flight and asked for more money to rebook and for an overnight kennel stay near the airport.
After licking their wounds, McKenzie and Weddig eventually got puppies.
It turned out well in the end, said McKenzie, as Oceane played nearby with frisky German Shepherd puppy Oakley.