Cat Scams: Breeder + Kitten Website Scams

Current Ragdoll Breeder Cat Scams Online - on Websites, Facebook, Instagram and More

BUYER BEWARE: There are a lot of Ragdoll breeder and kitten scams online, since scammers know people are looking for the perfect pet for their new family member. We keep a running list of the ones we know about here. But, there are new ones popping up daily. Please email us if you have concerns about a breeder you are considering adopting from after a quick online search.

A reader once wrote me and said, "Ordinarily, the work of a pet scammer is intrinsically evil. They trade on the powerful emotion of love & tenderness towards an animal - a pet; a companion. Because of that I view them at the level of pedophiles, rapists, pederasters, and slightly above the status of serial killers..

But because they operate in the wide swells of the internet sewer this sort of detritus is of no interest and not worthy of policing apprehending, convicting and jailing- substantial effort/ expenditure of resources for little gain. I view pet scammers, in reality, like I do cockroaches. They are hideous, they are alarming when you encounter them BUT as hard as you try to exterminate them, they just continue to reappear in your bathroom, garage, etc.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) post on this topic suggested that up to 90% of all listings submitted from a google search like "ragdolls for sale" are fraudulent - in some way or other. The other fact that surprised me was: the center of Pet scam operations is in Cameroon, West Africa."

List of Scam Websites I Know About - Check Out Cat Scams on Facebook Below

Believe me, there are many more than this (and some scammers use legitimate breeders' names - so be sure to check the website link - as it can be different than the cattery name - they're getting tricky).

Need Help Figuring Out if a Website Is a Scam?

ℹ️ You can always contact us, if you are wondering if the breeder you're interested in is a legitimate breeder.  Please send us a link to their website, and we can check it out for you.

⚠️ WARNING SIGNS TO LOOK FOR: ⚠️

• CHEAP KITTENS - a reputable, legitimate breeder is not ever going to sell Ragdoll kittens for cheap. Why? They are running a business and they have fees, expenses, etc. for those first 12 weeks of the kittens' lives as well as the well-being of the kitten's mother. Check out reasonable Ragdoll cat prices right now.
  • 50% OFF ALL KITTENS TODAY
  • $600 each and free shipping - that's crazy cheap and "free shipping" is as if they are a commodity that's made in a factory.
• Photos - Photos all have different backgrounds, kittens for sale in the photos are all of different ages. Or they use stock pictures or use photos stolen from Instagram accounts (that's why they will all have different backgrounds). Legitimate breeders will usually have a spot where they take their kitten photos - and they'll have a red or blue or another colored blanket as the background, so all the photos have a similar background or the same one from the seller's home. Sometimes you can do a reverse image search on Google and see where else a photo has been used. You'll find that these cat scams will use them on multiple made-up websites.
• Misspellings: "We’re giving an excptional discount this week, so be amongst the lucky ones who get a Kitten at 50% off."
• Poor English - "Ragdoll Home is highly known for breeding and nurturing Kittens in a loving and caring manner, and we give them out to a true loving family who cares much about them." - No native English speaking breeder is going to name their cattery or reference their cattery as "Ragdoll Home"
  • I say "native English speaker" because these scams are done mostly by people outside of the USA and Canada
• Discrepancies in what is on the website vs. what the breeder says in emails: "He said his name is Steven Andrew but reviews on the website only mention someone named “Troy”. He also says he is located in Harrisburg, PA – note discrepancy above."
• A Shopping Cart - where you can checkout and buy a kitten today - No legitimate, reputable breeder will have "Buy Now" on their available kittens' page. A real breeder cares about the breed, the cats as living beings and wouldn't have a "shopping cart" type of set up.
• Trust Your Gut - When it feels wrong - it's usually wrong
• Addresses don't match - "The zip code they gave me for their address doesn’t match their city/state."
• Don't Belong to Cat Associations - The two major cat associations in the USA are TICA and CFA. If the breeder is a member, then they will be listed on those well-known websites. If they are not, you can always email those associations and ask if they are. Of course, scammers can write on their sites that they belong to TICA or CFA, so that's why you have to check on the actual organization's website.
• Payment - If it's through ZELLE or some other way you can never get your money back, like cash transfer services, i.e. Moneygram, Western Union. "This company doesn’t accept PayPal and have numerous spelling/grammatical errors in their correspondence." Don't send money via Venmo, cryptocurrency, Zelle, etc. - unless you physically have the kitten in hand or the breeder came highly recommended from a friend or family member who has a cat from them. It is always safest to pay with a credit card (not a debit card), so you can potentially get your money back if someone is running a scam.
• Freight Company - they have a freight company that you also have to pay to have the kitten shipped. This is not how reputable breeders work. Example: "I'd like to inform you that https://www.lunaragdollhome.com/ is a fake ragdoll breeder and they "work" with https://expressglobalcargomover.com/ to move "kittens". They scammed my mother out of $3,000 USD in total, $1,000 for the "kitten", $2,000 for the "shipping". They tried getting another $2,500 in "quarantine" fees for "3 months"."
• Additional Fees - Most legitimate breeders are up front with all fees, etc. A Floppycats reader spoke about these extra fees more eloquently, "The pet scammer enterprise is done primarily over the internet; they maintain anonymity, they promise all kinds of goodies, and they con the unwary out a $1000 or more a pop.  I found it interesting but not surprising - when they found a "mark"; extracted cash from their mark; they will come again for another hit on the poor mark- via an "extortion fee" to get their pets out of quarantine or some sort of emergency during transport of the animal. Marks are a gift that just keeps on giving."
• Content is copied from elsewhere - a lot of times they will copy content from a legitimate Maine Coon breeder's website and then just switch our "Maine Coon" for "Ragdoll" - so if you see something along those lines, you know it's a scam.
• Odd Cattery Names - Many of these cattery names are targeting keywords that are entered in Google by users, not a NAME a person would name their cattery. So "Healthy Ragdoll Breeders" is a very odd name for a native English speaker to choose
• Young Kittens - 10 weeks old - no legitimate, reputable breeder lets kittens go before 12 weeks
• .ORGs - No breeder would have a .org website - that's for official 5013c organizations, like the Red Cross.
• Video Chat or Video Visit - Some breeders (not all) will do a video meeting with you, so you know they are real, the kitten you're interested in is real, etc. Now, there are legitimate breeders that will not do this because of time resources, but sometimes it can be a sign.
• Ads - A legitimate, reputable breeder does not put ads online, on Craigslist, on Facebook, on recycler.com - they have a running waitlist. And they attract new kitten buyers through social media (by posting their litters, etc.) or through referrals or through website searches (if their site is set up well for search engine optimization)

New Facebook Cat Scams

A reader submitted these screenshots on Jan 30/31, 2022 saying, "Notice the date on right hand corner of ultra sound. New pregnancy announcement. But date on Ultra sound is August 18 (of God knows what year). even if it was just this past August, those babies should have been born by now. Here is another one. Same ultra sound photo. "

Here is a scammer using a photo of me with kittens at a legitimate breeder's house from years ago. This is catfishing at it's finest.

The reader who sent me these photos decided to have some fun with this catfish to see what unraveled. She said, "Omg! She is trying to pass herself off as you. She is saying she is from Washington. I asked if that was the litter she was holding in profile pic. she said yes . I said she looked like a proud Momma and she said she appreciates me saying that. Then she gets pushy about buying the kitten at crazy low price. claims kittens are now 7 weeks but photo was posted in November. ??????? She even said they are desexed. at 7 weeks??"

Here's that conversation:

The email they use to contact their "customers" RAGDOLLS HOME <[email protected]>

The email they use to have an account on ZELLE (a wire transfer service): [email protected] Under: Ryleigh Figueroa and Michael

Maybe you can also add the freight company which is in the scam as well. They wanted to get an additional $1,000 for an electrical thermal crate due to the young age of the kitten.

SCAM FREIGHT COMPANY: Pet Rounds Logistics Network (405) 383-8975 [email protected] [email protected] General Manager Mr. Chris Caster

I wish I had seen your web site before connecting with https://leeragdoll.com/.  Unfortunately, I was slow to recognize the scam and they did get some money from me before I figured it out.  It was your web site that helped me confirm the scam.  I wish there was a way to remove them from the internet!  Just wanted to say thanks for having that information available.  I wish I had seen it first.

I used Zelle…. Note to self….. NEVER use a person to person money transfer to someone you are not totally sure who they are and or know personally … EVER!!!! They will make arrangements of other forms of payments such as American Express gift card.  I don’t know why that didn’t set of my Scam senses! So if you have to pay any reseller by person to person transfer and you don’t personally know them, RUN.!

These people now are telling me they will hold my money for 30 days per the contract which is null and void as they never intended to send me a kitten. I am still so mad I can’t see straight.  They have all but acknowledged the scam and won’t refund my money. I wish there was a way I could get law enforcement on their doorstep, but I fear that doorstep is not in the US.

I was wondering how you SEO your website?  Getting it to show up when someone types in ragdoll kittens for sale would be great. Did I mention I am an unhappy camper right now? Thanks for having that list.  If I hadn’t checked and found your site they would have scammed me out of all the money they were asking for. I just wish I had thought about the possibility of cat breeders scam before I jumped in.  I hate learning hard lessons.

These guys are good…  the web site is nice, the contract is official looking.  Very easy to be at ease when your hoping to get that special kitten. Its when the payment options pop up that one should beware.  Unfortunately it took me a step to long to figure it out. As always, if it sounds to good, it probably is…. Buyer beware! One more thing... check the timestamp on any correspondence.  These guys were responding to email at hours between midnight and 6 am. Another red flag."

How to Spot a Pet Scammer - Potential Red Flags

Here's the latest - Precious Ragdolls using my photo of Charlie, Trigg and me that's in the footer of our website.  I am not married and have never been - and they stole the content below the photo from another breeder's website.

Often times, they will steal from a Maine Coon breeder's website and then just replace "Maine Coon" with "Ragdoll".  You can always copy and paste a few sentences of the content and put it between " " in Google's search bar to see where else it appears on the web.

You can tell they stole it from Ragdolls Above All.

Update September 19, 2020

Kimberly Ragdolls is a fraudulent breeder website

"I’m very appreciative of you posting fraudulent breeder websites. I have been corresponding with a man using the name Kimberly Ragdolls. He is offering to sell me a beautiful female kitten for $350, including shipping from Pennsylvania to Arizona. I asked him to forward a copy of his contract. He appeared to change the name of the breeder at the Beginning of the contract, but erroneously left the name of Cristar Ragdoll Cattery at the bottom. He has now ceased corresponding with me once I questioned him on it. I wanted you to have the new name he is operating under so you can list it also.

Seems this guy has had several fb pages. They don’t have a website this time - just their Facebook page. But they are seeking out buyers on the American Ragdolls fb page. They replied to a post earlier today listing their info and pictures of kittens. I reached out to them as I am currently looking for a female. I just looked back on fb and it appears they deleted their comments with their info. But their fb page was Kimberlyragdoll kittens.

I have messed with this guy all afternoon questioning him. I sent him screenshots of all the business names he has gone by and all the stories buyers have reported about him. He claims it is just fraudulent buyers trying to give him a bad name. He’s definitely a fraud. He went from messaging me on Facebook messenger, to texting me, to using WhatsApp. I questioned him why he kept switching and he said to make sure I was legit! Lol! Thanks for looking out for buyers! I appreciate it!"

Update September 2, 2020

RAGDOLL CATTERY HOME is another Ragdoll breeder scam website.

Paula wrote in, "Unfortunately my 13 yr old rag doll passed Suddenly recently and we are devastated I began looking right away for another rag doll and just get totally conned. I went to https://ragdollcatterys.com/ and unfortunately they took my money (cash accounts only which was a red flag) promised to ship my 11-week kitten they named Cucu, then hours before her due time (Monday September 1st at noon) they then asked for more money for another shot and $650 for a temperature controlled crate. The kitten was to be delivered in a crate anyway They agreed to pay for her shot but still wanted $650 for the crate She was supposed to be on a flight (airport) at the time they requested this so I knew it wasn’t right. They sent me shipping confirmation for the flight but trying to google the company showed no such company.

We were so upset at being conned so easily and I don’t know how to get their name out there to warn other innocent pet lovers so it doesn’t happen to them. If you can possibly add this company to your warning list of bad breeders that would be great. Their website and shipping contract looked so real too. If you know a good breeder in Southern California who has rag dolls for pets and I’m not interested in showing or breeding please can you let me know. please post to try to prevent others from being scammed by them!"

Update August 3, 2020

Supreme Ragdolls Home! is another Ragdoll kitten scam website.

Update July 23, 2020

Cristar Ragdoll Cattery is another Ragdoll Breeder Kitten Scam website

UPDATE - July 4, 2020

Yet another Ragdoll breeder scam / fraudulent website - Ragdoll Kitty Shop - Ragdoll Pet Shop

UPDATE - June 28, 2020

Another Ragdoll breeder scam / fraud - Premium Ragdolls.

Doing the same as this one below, but using a photo of my sister with our parents' kitties on their Premium Ragdolls Cattery's fake and fraudulent website:

How to Spot a Ragdoll Cattery Scam Website

Another scammer website using a photo of my sister and me with my parents' Ragdoll cats. Wish there was a way to prosecute these people. Here was another one - Jasmine Ragdoll Kitten - Ragdoll Breeder SCAM.

These are people that do not have kittens - they are stealing people's photos, content from other legitimate breeder's websites and creating a brand new website from it. Claiming they have kittens - and then screwing people out of their money. They use keywords like, "Professional Ragdoll Cat breeders" or "Purebred Ragdolls" to help their website be found on Google. And innocent people that are looking to buy a Ragdoll kitten, find it - see all the pretty photos and get suckered into buying one because they make the website look legitimate with a purchase agreement, shipping guarantee and more.  But there is a lot of misspellings and you can find the content they post on other breeder's websites. For example, they copied and pasted the content on their Shipping and Guarantee page from a Savannah cat breeder.

I HATE wasting Floppycats' site's content on something like this. I HATE spending my time on something like this. BUT I HATE scams and frauds and especially those that involve animals even more.

I am hoping this post will make them stop and also make others stop that might be doing the same. They will probably change their name by the time this posts - but they have used "RAGDOLL FAMILY" or "Ragdoll Giants" so far.  Please let me know what other names they use. I posted about this scam two weeks ago on Facebook - you can see the discussion here:

How to Find a Reputable Ragdoll Cat Breeder:

Here are the pages on the site that you might find helpful:

• Ragdoll Breeders
• Recommended Ragdoll Breeders
• Bad Ragdoll Breeders
• How to Know if a Cat Breeder is Reputable: An Interview with Bette Willette
• You can also look for legit rescues or even better, look into adoption from a local rescue or animal shelter

You can always contact us, if you are wondering if you're dealing with one of the cat scams or if the breeder you're interested in is a legitimate breeder.  Please send us a link to their website, and we can check it out for you.