Woman almost falls for a common lost-pet scam demanding a gift card for her missing cat's "safe return", until the internet steps in with a warning every cat owner needs to hear.

Gather round, cat parents, because this one's an impawrtant thing you must familiarize yourself with - in case the worst happens and your cat gets lost.

No one ever want ot think of the possibility that their cat is going to just disappear one day. It's the nightmare of any cat pawrent. And we don't talk about a senior cat who crosses the rainbow bridge - that's no less sad, but at least this is an anticipated event you can mentally prepare yourself for to some degree. But yes, it's still one of life's saddest events. It's just that losing a cat in any way is sad - especially if it's sudden. You have your cat, you love your cat, your cat loves you, and just like that… where is the cat? When a cat goes missing, it's a tragedy full of searching and stress. And the even-sadder reality is that some people take advantage of this harsh situation.

As this one cat owner discovered the hard way when her cat went missing, some people care for absolutely nothing when it comes to the distress she was in (and her cat, probably). They lie, they cheat, and they try to extort money out of the worrying pawrents, using the difficult emotional state they're in to get it. Luckily for this cat pawrent, she had the right call to turn to the online feline family and ask: Is this a scam? Because the resounding answer she got was that, yes, this one's absolutely a scam, and she should stay away from these people. Her searching energy needs to be reserved for actually finding her cat, and give these scammers zero attention.

What happens, usually, is that scammers try to find lost pets posts and then contact the person searching for their beloved lost animal companion. They claim they have it (which is so much easier with faked AI images in this day and age), and then ask for a monetary reward to give the pet back. Note that they'll never ask for cash, and outright refuse it - because they don't actually have anyone's cat, dog, or whatever pet. They'd do anything to twist the worried pet owner emotionally, saying they'll have to put the cat back on the street. But luckily for this one woman, she realized the cat was never at the scammer's place. And what's even better? The cat came back home safe. We love a happy ending.