People do target owners of missing pets. One trick protects you from almost all of it — and it takes ten seconds.
When you post, keep one identifying detail to yourself — a leg band number, a missing toenail, a scar, an unusual marking, a specific word it says. Don't put it in your listing, your flyer, or your social posts.
Then when somebody contacts you, ask them for it. Someone holding your bird can answer instantly. Someone working from your public listing cannot answer at all. That one question ends almost every fake claim before it starts.
Ask them to describe something you never published — a band number, a missing toe, an odd mark under a wing, a word it says. Better still, ask for a photo or a short video taken right now, holding something ordinary like a set of keys. Anyone who actually has your bird can do this in a minute. Anyone who cannot, doesn't have it.
Never send money, an e-transfer, gift cards or a deposit before you have your bird. A genuine finder will hand the bird over first. Requests for a courier fee, a vet bill, or money to 'release' the bird are the classic pattern — and once an e-transfer is claimed it is effectively gone.
A modest reward genuinely does make more people look twice. The risk isn't the reward itself, it's advertising a large sum next to a way to contact a distressed owner. Keep it modest, never state that you'll pay in advance, and remember we don't publish your phone number or email in the first place.
No. Neither is ever shown on the site or in the printable flyer — the flyer carries only a QR code back to your listing. Anyone who wants to reach you uses the contact form on your listing, and their message comes to you by email. You decide whether to reply and what to share.
Somewhere public and busy, in daylight, and take someone with you. Many police stations offer a designated exchange area. Don't give out your home address, and don't go alone to a private address.
If you think you've been targeted, report it to your local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.