Paducah airport offers tips to prevent ‘puppy scams,’ catfishing

PADUCAH, Ky. (KFVS) - The Barkley Regional Airport is helping bring awareness to an increase in “puppy scams” and catfishing in the area.

According to a release from the airport, a scam artist will try to sell a victim a new pet online, often asking the victims to pay to ship a pet by air. Currently, shipping pets is not available at Barkley.

With catfishing, they said the scam artist will try to form online relationships with victims, coaxing them over time to send them money for a visit by buying an airline ticket. However, many times the airline ticket is fake.

If you’ve fallen victim to a scam, they ask that you contact local authorities to file a report.

Kentuckians should also report scams to the Office of the Attorney General at 888-432-9257 or file a scam complaint online.

According to the release, the National Cybersecurity Alliance has many resources for people who are questioning if a transaction or relationship is legitimate. You can check those out online.