'You don't mess with someone's missing cat': Pet parent exposes scammer mid-meetup after they faked finding her cat for cash, then gets her revenge with an avalanche of spam signups

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jul 22, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

If there is one thing you should never do, it's come between reuniting a  pawrent and their cat. Literally. 

No force that exists in this universe would stop us on our quest to find them. We would stay up all night searching if we had to; it doesn't matter how long it would take. We would post pictures of them as kittens to the beautiful, fluffy feline they are now to give everyone any chance at recognizing them. And if you contact us saying you have them, you'd better be ready to meet right now.

The scammer in the post below, who tried to scam a cat mom out of $20 by pretending to have her missing cat, got off easy, if you ask us. She got her revenge by signing them up for an avalanche of spam emails (we would not have been so nice). Below, you'll see how she caught the scammer mid-meetup in a purrfectly satisfying way. Again, they're lucky it wasn't us; they wouldn't have gotten away with it so easily!

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  • 01

    Scammer claims they have my missing cat and demands money - enjoy spam!

    wwwww "I'm not going to give you money before I see him. You're lying to me."
    via Armastas

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Ok. Long post. So I posted on several websites about my missing cat. I get a message from one on Pawboost saying they have him. First I ask for photos and where they found him. They respond with one photo of a grey cat in a towel.
    via poofywings
  • 03
    When I ask for a follow up pic of his tail (he has very subtle stripes on it), she says she is "stressed" and just wants to know when and where I can pick him up to confirm in-person. I apologize about them being "stressed" (seriously? who's too
    via poofywings
  • 04
    stressed to take a photo), then say I can meet them tomorrow (today). We agree to meet up at 9am at a Starbucks nearby.
    via poofywings
  • 05
    So, this morning at 5:13am, she says to text her when I'm on my way. I message her back at 8:50am that I'm on my way there and that my husband and I will sit outside on the patio. I have a cat carrier - aint no way she could miss me, right?
    via poofywings
  • 06
    Nothing. I message again at 9:18am. She's a minute away and asks if there's a reward. (not really, i'm broke but I ain't telling her that.) I don't respond. Already my alarmbells are going off; If I found someone's cat I wouldn't be asking for a reward and I didn't put anything on the poster implying there would be one.
    via poofywings

  • Doing a good deed is its own reward. And, if we were looking for a reward, we would certainly be looking for more than $20. What can you do with $20 these days? Not much, unfortunately.

  • 07
    At 9:25, she sends me a "hello". At 9:30, I respond "Where are you?" She says, "I'm here already I just had to park a minute away how much is the reward?" Immediately, I know she's full of sh, because there's tons of parking in that area.
    via poofywings
  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10532497664
    via Africa images

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 09
    So I call her a out, "That doesn't make any sense. There are plenty of parking spots. Are you trying to scam me?" Why should I all I need is what I spent
    via poofywings
  • 10
    Response doesn't make any sense since she's never mentioned anything about her spending money. She claims she's spent $40 so far and that her husband insisted she get money and says sorry it's not a scam. I ask to speak on the
    via poofywings
  • 11
    phone and what car she drives. Once again, she's a minute away and wants $20 up front. (bad scamming, she didn't even send me venmo or cashapp info, just kept saying to pay before we meet. I say, "How can I give you money before I see the cat?"
    via poofywings
  • 12
    For us both to be on a safe side that's how I'll like to go about it I respond, "Ok. This is ridiculous. You said to meet at 9am. It's an hour later. You said multiple times you were "60 seconds" away."
    via poofywings
  • 13
    I am in my car once I receive the $20 part payment you get your cat and you pay me the rest Ugh. This is not how any of this sh works. These scammers are the worst.
    via poofywings
  • 14
    "How do I know you actually have my cat? I'm not going to give you money before I see him. You're lying to me. I'm going home."
    via poofywings
  • 15
    FRAUD
    via Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 16
    Then this b sends me a photo of "proof" which a pic of some lady in a car with the top of a cardboard pet carrier. No cat in sight.
    via poofywings

  • No, no. We need pictures with timestamps. We want to know he's been taken care of and fed. Where are the receipts, madam? This scammer is pawsitively unprepared. If you're going to try and run a scam, at least do it well.

  • 17
    I've been in my car since all I want is the $20 at first you get your cat and you pay me the rest why should I lie having your pet I sent you a pic yesterday you could confirm
    via poofywings
  • 18
    "I don't see my cat in that picture. This is bad proof." Your cat is in the carrier
    via poofywings
  • 19
    Then, not even 30 seconds later. You seem unserious I'll leave in 3 minutes
    via poofywings
  • 20
    The audacity! lol This b thinks she can fool me. I'm already packing up at this point and getting in my car. If she was really there, she would've ran up trying to get money.
    via poofywings
  • 21
    "Wow. You're really still trying to mess with me. You haven't sent any payment info. You seem like a bad scammer. I already left." Should I send my cashapp now for the $20 and I am still you can always drive back
    via poofywings
  • 22
    B realizes she's f ed up. lol "I don't believe you have my cat. You already threatened to leave because you think I'm "unserious". I don't trust you anymore.
    via poofywings
  • 23
    has to backpedal. I am really sorry I can't really continue to feed your pet just come here and get your cat
    via poofywings
  • 24
    "You don't have my cat. You won't send me pictures. I already left. If you actually had my cat, you need to give better proof. It's really mean for you to lie like this"
    via poofywings
  • 25
    And that's the last response. I knew there were scammers like this out there. I like to think I did my due diligence, but I'm still p ed off because I want my cat. It's either one of 2
    via poofywings
  • 26
    scenarios. Either she has my cat and is holding him ransom OR she doesn't have my cat and she's totally full of sh. I'm inclined to think the second one. So many red flags with this sh.
    via poofywings
  • 27
    TLDR: Scammer claims to have my cat and makes me wait for an hour demanding money (very incompetently).
    via poofywings
  • 28
    I tried looking up the name in her email, but it doesn't exist in this area. I don't know how to report her for this scam since I don't know her real name or see her car.
    via poofywings
  • 29
    So I already signed her up for 3 democratic party email lists. I'm going to sign her up for more mailing lists and clog her email. You don't mess with someone's missing cat.
    via poofywings
  • 30
    Update: Added NAACP, Center for Progressive Reform, and Alliance for Justice. Maybe these emails will teach them to become a better person for society. /s
    via poofywings
  • 31
    2nd Update: So I got curious and did a reverse image search on the pic of the woman in her car with the top of a cardboard pet carrier. It links to a Pawboost page for Escondido, CA. Still searching through the images to find this one, BUT, what's
    via poofywings
  • 32
    interesting is that as I was browsing this page, the language of the site changed. This is strange since I'm logged in. So I look at the URL and there is this at the end. ?locale=sw_KE
    via poofywings
  • 33
    I search for that and it's a locale helper language tag for Swahili from Kenya.
    via poofywings

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scammer pet parents cash petty revenge feline cat rescue missing cat spam Cats loving animals
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