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Peterbuilt Boerboels

How to Choose a Boerboel Breeder (and Avoid Puppy Scams)

A seller-neutral reference: the fraud checks that still work, the two that AI has weakened, the transport fee escalation that costs buyers the most money, how to verify registrations and licences, and where to report it.

Updated August 2026

The short answer

Three checks still catch most Boerboel puppy scams: reverse image search the listing photos, insist on a live unscripted video call with a challenge action, and pay by credit card so the charge is reversible. None of the three is sufficient on its own any more, because AI-generated photos and video now defeat the first two.[1, 4]

That is the honest version, and it is a change from the advice almost every buyer guide still prints. Reverse image search and "just get on a video call" were, until recently, close to decisive. They are now necessary but no longer sufficient, and the rest of this page is about what to do with that. The affirmative move that has actually gotten stronger is the payment method, because a reversible charge is the one control that does not care whether the dog on the screen was real.

Everything below applies to any seller, and the checks are written so that they can be run against anyone, including the kennel publishing them.

How big the problem actually is

Numbers first, because most pages in this category assert a scale and cite nothing. These are BBB Scam Tracker pet-scam reports and median reported losses by year.[1]

BBB Scam Tracker pet scam reports and median reported loss by year
YearReports to BBB Scam TrackerMedian reported loss
2022680$750
20232,899$700
20242,278$680
2025 (through September)1,632$600

Two readings of that table are worth separating. Reports to BBB Scam Tracker decreased by 21 percent in 2024, and the median loss has drifted down each year since 2022.[1] That is genuinely good news about reporting volume. It is not evidence that the problem shrank, because Scam Tracker counts reports, not incidents, and reporting rates for consumer fraud are low and unstable. The honest statement is that reported pet scams fell in 2024 and the typical reported loss is in the high hundreds of dollars, not that fraud declined.

The finding that should change buyer behaviour is different: over 50 percent of pet scams originate on a website found through a search engine or social media.[1] A site being easy to find, ranking well, or carrying a professional design tells you nothing about whether the animal exists. Discovery channel is not evidence.

What AI broke: two checks that no longer stand alone

The standard buyer-guide advice, repeated on nearly every page about puppy scams including older versions of this one, is that two checks settle the matter: reverse image search the photos, and get on a video call. Both were close to decisive for years. Both are now over-claimed, and saying so plainly is more useful than repeating advice that has quietly stopped working.

1. Reverse image search fails silently on generated photos

Reverse image search works by finding other copies of an image that already exist online. That is why it is so effective against stolen photos, and BBB still recommends it.[1] But a generated image has no original. There is no earlier copy for Google Lens or TinEye to match, so the search returns clean. The failure mode is the dangerous kind: the check does not error, it passes. A buyer who runs it and sees no matches concludes the photos are original to this seller, which is exactly the wrong inference on the newest fraud. The FTC's June 2026 alert names stolen and manipulated pet images and AI-generated deepfakes together as current technique.[4]

To be precise about who says what: the "no original to find" explanation is a straightforward consequence of how the tools work, not a claim BBB makes. BBB recommends the search and does not list this limitation.[1]

2. The video call has been faked, and the tells are disappearing

"A breeder with a real litter can point a phone at it, a scammer cannot" was a fair thing to say until recently. It is no longer safe as stated. A BBB investigator documented a pet-sale video call in which the voice was out of sync with the video, and on asking the seller to wave, the hand had too many fingers, which the investigator identified as a telltale sign of AI.[1] The important part is what the same investigator said next: "A couple years ago, I would say to people ‘Have a video call with the breeder, the mother and puppy.’ That may be going away."[1]

Read that as an expiry notice on finger-counting. Artifacts like desynced audio and malformed hands are the current generation's errors, and they are the errors most actively being fixed. Any scam advice built on spotting a visual glitch is advice with a short shelf life. Advice built on requiring an action the seller could not have prepared ages far better, which is what the next section is.

The video-call protocol that still works

The defence against a generated or pre-recorded call is not sharper eyes. It is unpredictability: demand something specific to this moment that could not have been generated in advance and cannot be answered from a library of clips. Two requests do most of the work.

  1. The written sign. Ask the seller to write today's date and your name on a sheet of paper by hand, and hold it up beside the dam, in frame with the dog, for several seconds. This binds the footage to today and to you specifically.
  2. The named room. Mid-call, name a room the seller has not shown you and ask them to carry the puppy into it, still on camera, without cutting the feed. You pick the room, during the call. This defeats a clip library and forces continuous live capture through an unrehearsed transition.

Add ordinary conversational load: ask them to say your name, to answer a question about the pairing, to show the dam interacting with the litter. AKC notes that the mother should be present with her puppies, comfortable and settled.[11] A seller who cannot produce a dam on a live call is telling you something regardless of what the photos looked like.

None of this makes a call proof. It makes a call expensive to fake, which is the realistic goal. Keep it paired with a reversible payment method and with the document checks further down, because layered checks are what survive a technology that improves every few months.

How to pay, and what never to pay with

This is the section most buyer guides get wrong by answering a different question. When a buyer asks "how should I pay," telling them to insist on a written contract is a contract-law answer to a payment-reversibility question. Contracts matter, and there is a contract step in the checklist below. But a contract with a seller who does not exist is worth nothing, and the payment method is the one control that keeps working even when every other check has been defeated.

Never pay a puppy deposit with any of these

  • Wire transfer. Named first because it is the method flagged by the FTC, AKC, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health and BBB alike.[1, 2, 3, 4, 9] Indiana's advisory is blunt: if the seller asks you to pay via wire transfer or gift card, do not.[3]
  • Gift cards. No legitimate breeder has ever been paid in gift cards.[2, 3, 4]
  • Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal Friends and Family. BBB records pet-scam money changing hands through payment services including Zelle and Venmo.[1] Friends and Family is the specific PayPal setting that waives buyer protection, which is precisely why it gets requested.
  • Cryptocurrency. Named by the FTC among the payment methods that only scammers insist on.[4]

BBB states the common property directly: these methods "offer no way to get your money back if you are the victim of fraud."[2] And in its study update of pet scams, under the plain heading that little money is recovered, BBB confirms what that means in practice.[1] Gift-card and peer-to-peer victims rarely get their funds back. Not usually. Rarely.

Pay by credit card, because it is reversible

The American Kennel Club names credit card and PayPal Goods & Services as typically the safest options.[9] The reason is structural rather than a matter of trust: a card charge can be disputed, and a Goods & Services transaction carries buyer protection. If the dog turns out not to exist, a reversible payment is the difference between a dispute and a loss.

Which produces the instruction most pages omit: treat "we do not accept credit cards" as a standalone red flag. Not an inconvenience, not a small-business quirk. A seller who accepts only irreversible payment methods has selected for irreversibility, and that selection is the entire mechanism of the scam. Card processing fees are a real cost of doing business, and a legitimate seller can price them in or split them. An unwillingness to leave any dispute channel open is a different thing altogether.

What a Boerboel puppy should cost, and what a deposit normally covers, are pricing questions rather than fraud questions. They are covered on the Boerboel puppy price guide.

The transport fee escalation scam

This is the highest-dollar pattern in the category, and it is the one that catches buyers who already did some homework, because it starts after the purchase price is paid. It deserves a falsifiable fact at the top, because one sentence ends it:

Government agencies do NOT charge fees for pet movements within the United States.

Indiana State Board of Animal Health, Office of the State Veterinarian, consumer advisory of 18 November 2025.[3]

That single line kills the scam's central move. The Indiana advisory describes the mechanic exactly: a seller arranges transportation with several upfront fees that increase while the pet is in transit, and the transporter or seller then contacts the buyer asking for additional payments for expenses, fees or permits that "suddenly come up" during shipping. Most often, the seller says the animal has been detained in another state during a stop-over and the transporter must pay an extra fee for a permit to a government agency.[3] No such fee exists. If a permit fee to a government agency is being demanded mid-transit, the demand is fabricated by definition, not merely suspicious.

The follow-up charges arrive one at a time, each framed as the last obstacle, each unlocking the next. BBB documents pet-scam sellers demanding extra charges for immunizations, temperature-controlled cages, and taxes and fees from airlines, and warns buyers not to fall for ruses involving extra charges for kennels or customs charges.[1] In practice the sequence runs through some combination of a climate-controlled crate, transit insurance, vaccinations, a permit, customs, and a holding fee at a facility.

BBB's documented case shows the shape. A buyer ordered a kitten for $700, was asked for $250 for shipping, was then offered an air-conditioned carrier for the flight, and the demands kept coming. In total the scammer asked her to send $4,500, and she had already sent $1,900 before stopping.[1] Note the ratio: the fabricated fees dwarfed the advertised price of the animal. That is the design, not an accident.

If this is happening to you right now, stop paying. The pull to send one more payment comes from wanting to protect the money already sent and the animal you have committed to. There is no animal, and the money already sent is not recoverable by sending more. Stop, keep every message and receipt, and report it. Indiana's advisory also flags the related "free" pet offer, which exists to collect shipping and other fees for an animal that does not exist.[3]

Legitimate transport does cost money, and how safe transport actually works, what it includes and what it reasonably costs are covered on the Boerboel puppy shipping guide. Shipping appears on this page only as a fraud pattern.

Why Boerboel buyers are a special target

This is the part of the problem that is specific to this breed, and it does not appear in general puppy-scam guidance because general guidance is not written for people shopping for a South African breed.

Of roughly 3,500 pet-scam websites analysed in BBB's study update, 31 percent of the scammers appeared to be based in Cameroon, and another 30 percent in South Africa.[1] Indiana's advisory independently names Cameroon among pet adoption scam hotspots and says that a request to send money overseas to one should be considered a scam outright.[3]

Now put that next to the breed. The Boerboel is a South African breed, and its registry of origin is South African. Which means "we are a South African kennel and will ship her to you" is simultaneously the most plausible-sounding and the highest-risk sentence a Boerboel buyer will ever be told. For almost any other breed, an overseas seller is an oddity that raises an eyebrow. For this one, it sounds like authenticity. The pitch that should trigger the most caution is the one that sounds most like heritage.

This is not a claim that South African Boerboel breeders are fraudulent. Legitimate South African kennels are the origin of the breed, and dogs genuinely are exported. It is a claim about base rates: a Boerboel buyer receiving an unsolicited South African sales approach is drawing from a pool where roughly a third of catalogued scam sites trace to that country, while the breed's heritage removes the instinctive friction that would protect a buyer of any other breed. The correct response is not to refuse to deal with South African sellers. It is to apply the checks on this page harder when distance, currency and jurisdiction would make recovery impossible, and to be aware that an international purchase puts you outside the reach of a US card dispute in practice as well as in theory.

Which registry actually governs the breed, and why the Boerboel's registry politics are genuinely complicated, is a separate subject covered on the Boerboel registries page.

Cloned kennels and fake seller sites

A point of self-interest worth stating openly, because it is the reason this section exists: a scam site may be running a real kennel's name, address and dog photos right now, and the real kennel usually finds out when a defrauded buyer calls them. BBB notes that scam websites "often look legitimate or are clones of actual pet sellers,"[1] and Indiana's advisory warns plainly that scammers can and do take legitimate business names to use as a cover.[3] Identity theft of kennels is a normal part of this fraud, which means a recognisable, well-regarded kennel name in a listing is not evidence that you are talking to that kennel.

The practical consequence: verify the channel, not just the name. If a kennel name checks out, find that kennel's contact details independently, through the registry, a search for the kennel's own domain, or a phone number you located yourself, and open a fresh conversation there. Do not use the contact details supplied by the listing to verify the listing.

Site-level forensics

  • Domain registration age. A public WHOIS lookup shows when a domain was first registered. A site claiming a decade of breeding history on a domain registered five weeks ago is answering its own question. BBB notes that scam sites are "easily taken down and renamed," which is why they are usually young.[1]
  • A free-mail contact address. An established kennel with its own domain that nonetheless conducts business from a generic free webmail account is worth a question.
  • Duplicated copy. Paste a distinctive full sentence from the site's about or philosophy page into a search engine in quotation marks. If the identical paragraph appears verbatim across several unrelated seller sites, they share an author, and it is not any of them.
  • An address that does not resolve. Check the listed address on a map and in street view. A residential lot with no kennel facility, a vacant parcel, or an address that returns nothing is a hard stop.
  • Odd phrasing or typos in chat. Indiana's advisory lists this explicitly.[3] Treat it as a weak signal rather than proof, since it points at a non-native writer as readily as at a fraudster, and generative text is steadily erasing it.
  • "Free puppy, just pay shipping." A variant that exists only to harvest shipping fees for an animal that does not exist.[3]
  • Classified-ad channels. The American Boerboel Club advises against buying from sellers advertising on classified platforms.[22]

If you find a cloned site, report it. The listed kennel usually has no idea, and the reporting channels below include Petscams.com, which catalogues fraudulent pet-seller and pet-transport sites specifically.[8]

The verification checklist

Run these against any seller. Each one names its own limits, because a checklist that only ever produces a pass is not a checklist. None of them requires more than a browser and a phone.

  1. 1

    Reverse image search the listing photos

    Run two or three listing photos, plus any photo of the dam, through Google Lens and TinEye. If the same puppy appears on another site under a different kennel name, price or location, the listing is stolen. BBB recommends exactly this check.[1] Be aware of its limit: it can only find an image that already exists somewhere else, so it catches theft and misses generation. A clean result means "not stolen from an indexed page," not "real dog."

  2. 2

    Get a live, unscripted video call with a challenge action

    Not a recording, not a photo set. A live call in which the seller performs an action nobody could have prepared for. The protocol above gives two: a handwritten sign with today's date and the buyer's name held beside the dam, and carrying the puppy into a room the buyer names during the call. The dam should be on the property and settled with her litter.[11] A refusal, a broken camera, or another recording offered instead is the answer.

  3. 3

    Verify health testing at ofa.org, not on the seller's website

    The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals runs a free public database at ofa.org.[17] Search the sire's and dam's registered names there directly. AKC names OFA database verification as a step buyers should perform themselves.[11] A screenshot supplied by the seller is not verification, because the database is public and can be searched without the seller's help. "Vet checked" is not health testing.

  4. 4

    Call the breeder's veterinary clinic yourself

    Ask for the name and phone number of the clinic that treats the breeding dogs and the litter, then call it. A clinic can confirm that the kennel and its dogs exist as patients, which is the single hardest thing for a fabricated seller to produce. Indiana's state veterinarian frames the underlying principle as confirming a seller's credentials and history by direct contact rather than accepting what the listing asserts.[3] A seller who will not name a clinic has failed a question that costs an honest one nothing.

  5. 5

    Contact two past buyers directly, not curated reviews

    Testimonials printed on a seller's own site are chosen by the seller, and a fabricated site can print anything. Ask for two recent buyers who agreed to be contacted, then contact them. The Indiana advisory tells buyers to confirm reviews from previous clients by direct contact, and to talk to others who have bought from the breeder.[3] AKC likewise points buyers toward people who have actually taken dogs from the program.[11]

  6. 6

    Pay by credit card, and read the contract before you do

    AKC names credit card and PayPal Goods & Services as the safest payment options.[9] Both leave a dispute channel open. Before the money moves, the written contract should already exist and should state price, deposit terms, the health guarantee and its length, what records travel with the puppy, registration terms, and a return or take-back clause. A contract that has to be written after a deposit is requested is not a contract, it is a delay.

Licensing lookups, and why no license is not a red flag

There are real public databases here, and they are worth checking. There is also a widespread misreading of what they mean, and getting that backwards sends buyers away from perfectly legitimate small programs while telling them nothing about the fraud they are actually exposed to.

The lookups

  • USDA APHIS Animal Care Public Search Tool. Returns persons licensed and registered under the Animal Welfare Act, inspection reports, and annual reports.[16] aphis.usda.gov
  • TDLR License Search (Texas). The public database of Texas licensed breeders.[12, 14] tdlr.texas.gov/LicenseSearch
  • TDLR Disciplinary Actions and Sanctions (Texas). The database of licensees subject to disciplinary action, and the more informative of the two.[12, 15] tdlr.texas.gov/cimsfo/fosearch.asp

Other states run their own licensing schemes with different thresholds. Texas is used here as the worked example; check the equivalent agency in the seller's state.

The caveat that matters more than the lookup

In Texas, a breeder licence is required only of a person who possesses five or more adult intact female dogs or cats and breeds them for direct or indirect sale, under Chapter 802 of the Occupations Code.[12] Breeders with fewer than five adult intact females are exempt, as are dogs raised for herding livestock, hunting, competing in field trials, or in breed or conformation shows.[13] At the federal level, an Animal Welfare Act licence is generally aimed at operations maintaining more than four breeding females that sell sight-unseen, so face-to-face sellers largely fall outside it.[16]

The scale gives the point its force. Texas had 168 licensed breeders in FY25 across the entire state.[12] Whatever else that number describes, it is not the population of legitimate breeding programs in Texas. The overwhelming majority of serious small kennels sit under the threshold or inside an exemption, entirely lawfully.

So: the absence of a licence is not itself a red flag. A revocation or a disciplinary record is. Texas law requires TDLR to revoke a breeder licence for animal cruelty or neglect, and permits revocation for other criminal convictions.[12] That makes the sanctions database the higher-value search of the two, and it is worth running on any seller who does hold a licence. Licensed facilities are inspected at least once every 18 months.[12]

One more thing a licence does not do: it says nothing about whether the seller you are messaging is the licensee. Kennel identity theft defeats a licence lookup as easily as it defeats a name.

Reading the documents: OFA, SABBS, NABBR, DNA

Forged paperwork is easy to produce and easy to spot once you know what a genuine document contains. The useful skill is not detecting a forgery by its typeface, it is knowing which fields must be present and which of them can be checked against an independent source.

A genuine OFA certificate

The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals runs a free, public, searchable database.[17] A real OFA certificate shows all of the following:

  • the dog's registered name, exactly as registered;
  • the dog's registration number;
  • an OFA number unique to that evaluation;
  • the specific test performed (hips, elbows, cardiac);
  • the result or grade. Normal hips return Excellent, Good, or Fair;
  • the report date.

The check that matters: take the registered name off the certificate and search it at ofa.org yourself. If the certificate is genuine, the record is public and you will find it without the seller's help. If it only exists as a PDF the seller sent you, it does not exist. AKC directs buyers to the OFA database for exactly this reason.[11]

A genuine SABBS birth certificate, and how to check it

A SABBS birth certificate carries the dog's full registered name including the kennel prefix, its SABBS registration number, date of birth, colour and sex, the microchip or identification number, the registered names and numbers of both sire and dam, and the breeder of record. A document missing the sire and dam registration numbers is not a registration document, whatever it is titled.

Now the honest part, which most pages skip: SABBS publishes no public studbook search and no public membership search. There is no URL to hand you. SABBS is the body legally authorised to register Boerboels under South Africa's Animal Improvement Act No. 62 of 1998, and its records are held on the SA Stud Book LOGIX system rather than in a consumer-facing lookup.[18] Verification therefore runs through a written query to the SABBS office, at office@sabbs.co.za, and it needs to carry the dog's full registered name and registration number, because those are the fields the studbook is keyed on. A name alone will not resolve. Expect this to take days rather than seconds, and build that into your timeline instead of letting a deposit deadline outrun it.

Saying that plainly is more useful than implying the lookup is one click. If a page tells you to "confirm the number with the registry" and gives you no URL, no form, no address and no statement of what the registry will confirm, it has handed you a dead end and called it a step.

A genuine NABBR appraisal certificate

A NABBR appraisal certificate shows the dog's registered name and registration number, the appraisal score as a percentage, the date and location of the appraisal, and the appraiser. NABBR verifies by telephone at (480) 664-6224 and publishes an Appraisal Results page, so a claimed appraisal score can be cross-checked against a published list as well as by phone.[19] An appraisal percentage quoted with no registration number and no certificate behind it is marketing, not a score.

One correction: "AKC-registered Boerboel" is not a scam tell

It is widely repeated online that a seller advertising an AKC-registered Boerboel must be a fraud, because the AKC supposedly does not recognise the breed. That is out of date. The Boerboel gained full AKC recognition in 2015, and it appears on the AKC's own list of breeds by year recognised.[10] An AKC-registered Boerboel is an ordinary thing. Which registry a dog is registered with, and what each registration actually certifies, is a genuinely tangled subject in this breed and is covered on the Boerboel registries page.

DNA panels, and how to verify one

A DNA panel result is the easiest document of all to fabricate, because it is usually shared as a screenshot. Embark provides a mechanism that closes this, and it is worth asking for by name. A breeder can share a dog's public profile link rather than an image. Embark also offers a Veterinary Verification Form, which confirms that a veterinarian collected the sample and verified the dog's identity by permanent identifier (microchip or tattoo). Once uploaded and set to public, the form displays on the dog's profile alongside the registered swab code for that dog, which is what allows other breeders, clubs and registries to verify the information on it.[20]

So the request is specific: ask for the public Embark profile link, and for a vet-verified sample where the breeder has one. A live profile link tied to a swab code is checkable. A screenshot is not.

What the individual tests screen for, and which conditions matter in a giant breed, are health questions rather than fraud questions. They are covered on the Boerboel health page. This section covers only how to verify that a certificate is real.

Questions to ask, and what a real answer sounds like

Ask these on a first call. You are listening for specifics, documents and numbers. Vagueness anywhere on this list is information too.

1. "What registry are you with, and what is the registration number of the sire and dam?"

A real answer is a specific registry plus specific numbers, given without hesitation, and an invitation to check them. Vagueness here, or a registry name with no number attached, ends the conversation early.

2. "Can I see the parents' health-test results, and what names are they filed under at OFA?"

A real answer is the registered names to search plus certificate PDFs. The registered name matters because that is the string the public database is searchable by. A story about results being "with the vet" is also an answer.

3. "Which veterinary clinic do you use, and may I call them?"

A real answer is a clinic name and number offered without friction. This question costs an honest breeder nothing and is close to impossible for a fabricated seller to satisfy.

4. "Can we do a live video call right now, and can you write today's date on a piece of paper?"

A real answer is yes, or a specific time within a day or two. The paper matters more than the call: it is the part that cannot be prepared in advance.

5. "May I have contact details for two buyers from your last litter?"

A real answer is two names and numbers, with the buyers' permission. Reviews written on the seller's own website are not a substitute, because the seller chooses them.

6. "Is the full price everything I will ever pay, and what happens if a transporter asks for more?"

A real answer is a written total and a clear statement that no additional permit, crate, insurance or customs fee will appear later. This question inoculates against the single highest-dollar pattern in the category.

7. "Can I read the full contract before I pay anything?"

A real answer is a link or a PDF within minutes, because the contract already exists and does not change per buyer. A deposit paid before the contract is visible is a donation.

8. "What happens if I can no longer keep the dog?"

A real answer includes a return or take-back clause in writing. Reputable programs do not let the dogs they bred end up in shelters.

Red flags at a glance

Any single one of these deserves hard questions. Two or more together means walk away.

  • Payment demanded by wire transfer: the method named by the FTC, AKC, Indiana's state veterinarian and BBB alike. Wire transfer, gift cards, Zelle, Cash App, PayPal Friends and Family, Venmo and cryptocurrency all share one property: once sent, the money is effectively gone.[1, 2, 3, 4, 9]
  • Refuses to accept a credit card: a standalone red flag, not a preference. A seller who takes only irreversible methods has selected for irreversibility, and that is the whole point of the selection.[9]
  • New charges after the purchase price is paid: crates, transit insurance, vaccinations, permits, customs or holding fees appearing after the deposit is the transport escalation scam. Government agencies do not charge fees for pet movements within the United States.[1, 3]
  • A price far below what the breed actually costs: the FTC describes scam ads offering purebred puppies for a few hundred dollars when they typically cost thousands. Treat a bargain as a claim to be checked, not a deal to be caught.[4]
  • Video is offered only as a recording: broken camera, bad signal, "we only do photos," travel excuses, or a new clip every time a live call is requested. The clip proves a dog existed once, somewhere, in front of some camera.[1]
  • No verifiable health documentation: if hip, elbow and cardiac results cannot be found at ofa.org under the parents' registered names, the honest translation is usually that the testing was never done.[17]
  • Free puppy, just pay shipping: this variant exists specifically to harvest shipping fees for an animal that does not exist, and Indiana's advisory calls it out by name.[3]
  • Odd phrasing or typos in chat, and a free-mail contact address: the Indiana advisory tells buyers to watch for odd phrasing or typos when chatting with a seller. A supposedly long-established kennel running its business from a free webmail address is a matching signal.[3]
  • Manufactured urgency: "another family is coming this afternoon" exists to stop the checks on this page from happening. Pressure to act fast is listed by the FTC as a scam feature.[4]

Where to report it

"Report the site" is advice a great many pages give without ever saying where. Here is where. Report even if you lost nothing and even if you caught it in time, because these databases are how investigators map networks and how the next buyer gets warned. File with more than one: they do different jobs and do not share intake.

  • Federal Trade Commission. reportfraud.ftc.gov is the FTC's reporting platform, and the FTC's pet-scam alert directs consumers there by name.[4, 5] By phone, the FTC consumer help line is 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).[6] The FTC does not resolve individual reports, but reports feed a database used by law enforcement agencies across the US and Canada.
  • FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). ic3.gov, described by the FBI as the central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime. Complaints may be referred to federal, state, local or international law enforcement.[7] Note IC3's own warning: it does not work with any non-law enforcement entity to recover lost funds, and will never contact you directly asking for information or money. Anyone who calls claiming to recover your money on IC3's behalf is running the second scam.
  • BBB Scam Tracker. Reachable from bbb.org/all/petscams.[2] This is the dataset the figures at the top of this page come from, so filing here measurably improves the next study.
  • Petscams.com. petscams.com catalogues reported fraudulent pet-seller and pet-transport websites, and is recommended by BBB as a reporting destination.[2, 8] It is also the fastest place to check a site before you engage.
  • Your state attorney general's consumer protection division. This is the one most buyers skip, and it is the only one with subpoena power over a business operating in your state. In Texas, file with the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division at texasattorneygeneral.gov or 1-800-621-0508.[21] Two things to know before filing in Texas: under Texas law your complaint is open to the public, and the office does not resolve individual consumer complaints. Do not put your date of birth, Social Security number or financial account numbers in the complaint form.[21]

Also contact your card issuer or payment provider immediately, before anything else, if money has moved. Dispute windows are finite, and that call is time-sensitive in a way that the reports above are not.

Boerboel Breeder & Puppy Scam FAQ

What is the most common Boerboel puppy scam?

The fake-seller deposit scam. A website or social post built on stolen or AI-generated photos advertises a puppy well below what the breed costs, takes a deposit by an irreversible payment method, and delivers nothing. BBB reports that over 50 percent of pet scams originate on a website found through a search engine or social media, so the fact that a site ranks well or is easy to find proves nothing about it.

Is it safe to pay a puppy deposit by Zelle?

No. Zelle, Cash App, Venmo, PayPal Friends and Family, wire transfer, gift cards and cryptocurrency are all effectively irreversible, and BBB states plainly that these payment methods offer no way to get your money back if you are the victim of fraud. BBB also reports that little money is recovered in pet scams. The American Kennel Club names credit card and PayPal Goods and Services as the safest options because they leave a dispute channel open. A seller who refuses a credit card is showing you a preference for irreversibility.

Can a video call be faked with AI?

Yes, and it has already been documented. A BBB investigator described a pet-sale video call where the audio was out of sync with the video, and when the seller was asked to wave, the hand had too many fingers. The same investigator warned that the advice to simply have a video call with the breeder, mother and puppy may be going away. Treat a video call as necessary but not sufficient, and make it live and unscripted: ask the seller to write today's date and your name on paper and hold it beside the dam, then carry the puppy into a different room that you name during the call.

The breeder wants more money for the crate, is that normal?

No. That is the transport fee escalation scam, and it is the highest-dollar pattern in the category. After the purchase price is paid, a transporter or seller demands additional money for a climate-controlled crate, transit insurance, vaccinations, permits or customs, often claiming the animal has been detained in another state during a stop-over and that a permit fee is owed to a government agency. The Indiana State Board of Animal Health states that government agencies do not charge fees for pet movements within the United States. Stop paying immediately and report it. Every further payment only unlocks the next demand.

Where do I report a puppy scam?

Report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP, to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, to BBB Scam Tracker, and to Petscams.com, which maintains a database of reported fraudulent pet-seller and pet-transport sites. Also file with your own state attorney general's consumer protection division. In Texas that is the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-621-0508. Report even if you did not lose money, because the reports are what let investigators map the networks.

Does a Boerboel breeder have to be USDA or state licensed?

Usually not, so the absence of a license is not by itself a red flag. A USDA Animal Welfare Act license is generally required only for those maintaining more than four breeding females who also sell sight-unseen. In Texas, a breeder license under Chapter 802 of the Occupations Code applies only to those possessing five or more adult intact female dogs and breeding them for sale, with exemptions for dogs raised for herding, hunting, field trials, and breed or conformation shows. Texas had 168 licensed breeders in FY25, which tells you how few programs the threshold captures. A revoked license or a disciplinary record, however, is a serious red flag, and Texas law requires TDLR to revoke a breeder license for animal cruelty or neglect.

How do I verify a SABBS or NABBR registration number?

Neither registry offers a one-click public lookup, and it is worth knowing that before you start. SABBS publishes no public studbook or membership search; it is the body legally authorised to register Boerboels under South Africa's Animal Improvement Act No. 62 of 1998, and its records sit on the SA Stud Book LOGIX system, so verification runs through a direct written query to the SABBS office at office@sabbs.co.za carrying the dog's full registered name and registration number. NABBR verifies by telephone at 480-664-6224 and publishes an Appraisal Results page. One correction worth making: an AKC-registered Boerboel is not a scam tell. The Boerboel gained full AKC recognition in 2015.

Do reputable Boerboel breeders ship puppies?

Yes. Shipping by flight nanny or ground transport is normal and is not a red flag in itself. Two things about shipping are red flags. First, using distance as the reason you cannot see the puppy live on an unscripted video call before paying. Second, and far more costly, any request for money beyond the agreed total once the purchase price is paid: crate fees, transit insurance, vaccination charges, permits, customs or holding fees. Government agencies do not charge fees for pet movements within the United States, so a permit fee demanded mid-transit is fabricated by definition. If you have already paid a deposit and new fees are appearing, stop paying and report it rather than trying to protect the money already sent.

Sources & further reading

  1. [1] 2025 Study Update: Puppy Scams (Scam Tracker report counts and median losses by year, ~3,500 scam websites analysed, AI video-call attempt, transport fee escalation). Better Business Bureau. https://www.bbb.org/all/scamstudies/puppy-scams/2025-study-update-puppy-scams
  2. [2] Pet Scams (payment methods that offer no way to get your money back; where to report). Better Business Bureau. https://www.bbb.org/all/petscams
  3. [3] Consumer Advisory: Shopping for a New Pet? 'Tis the Season to Beware of Scams! (18 November 2025). Indiana State Board of Animal Health, Office of the State Veterinarian. https://secure.in.gov/boah/files/Avoid-Puppy-Scams-PR-11-19-2025-Ad2.pdf
  4. [4] Animal lovers: learn to spot and avoid this breed of pet scams (June 2026 consumer alert; stolen and AI-generated pet images, video and deepfakes; payment red flags). Federal Trade Commission. https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/06/animal-lovers-learn-spot-and-avoid-breed-pet-scams
  5. [5] ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the FTC's fraud reporting platform. Federal Trade Commission. https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
  6. [6] Contact the FTC (consumer help line, 1-877-FTC-HELP / 1-877-382-4357). Federal Trade Commission. https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/contact
  7. [7] Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the FBI's central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crime. Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.ic3.gov/
  8. [8] Petscams.com, a volunteer database of reported fraudulent pet-seller and pet-transport websites. Petscams.com. https://petscams.com/
  9. [9] How to Spot a Puppy Scam (payment red flags; credit card and PayPal Goods & Services named as the safest options). American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/spot-puppy-scam/
  10. [10] Breeds by Year Recognized (Boerboel, 2015). American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/press-center/articles-resources/facts-and-stats/breeds-year-recognized/
  11. [11] Finding a Responsible Dog Breeder: What to Look For (OFA database verification; the dam should be present and settled with her litter). American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeding/signs-of-a-responsible-breeder/
  12. [12] Licensed Breeders at a Glance (Chapter 802 Occupations Code; five or more adult intact females; 168 licensees in FY25; inspection at least once every 18 months; mandatory revocation for cruelty or neglect). Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/media/pdf/bre-at-a-glance.pdf
  13. [13] Dog or Cat Breeders Program FAQ (exemptions for herding, hunting, field trial, breed and conformation dogs; fewer than five adult intact females). Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/bre/brefaq.htm
  14. [14] TDLR License Search (public database of licensed Texas breeders). Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/LicenseSearch/
  15. [15] Disciplinary Actions and Sanctions search. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/cimsfo/fosearch.asp
  16. [16] USDA Animal Care Public Search Tool (persons licensed and registered under the Animal Welfare Act, inspection reports and annual reports). USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal-care/awa-services/usda-animal-care-public-search-tool
  17. [17] Orthopedic Foundation for Animals public database of hip, elbow and cardiac results. Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. https://ofa.org
  18. [18] South African Boerboel Breeders' Society (registration authority under the Animal Improvement Act No. 62 of 1998; records held on the SA Stud Book / LOGIX system; office contact details). SABBS. https://www.sabbs.co.za/
  19. [19] North American Boerboel Breeders Registry (telephone verification, 480-664-6224; published Appraisal Results page). NABBR. https://nabbr.org/
  20. [20] Veterinary Verification Form: vet-witnessed sampling shown on a dog's public profile alongside its registered swab code. Embark Veterinary. https://embarkvet.com/resources/provide-extra-peace-of-mind-vet-verify-your-dogs-dna-sample-2/
  21. [21] File a Consumer Complaint, Consumer Protection Division (1-800-621-0508). Office of the Attorney General of Texas. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer-complaint
  22. [22] Guide to Buying a Boerboel Puppy (breed-club buyer guidance on health screening and classified-ad sellers). American Boerboel Club. https://americanboerboelclub.org/breeders/guide-to-buying-a-boerboel-puppy/

Last reviewed August 2026. Scam statistics are BBB Scam Tracker report counts and median reported losses, which count reports rather than incidents. Licensing thresholds and inspection intervals are current Texas and federal requirements and change by state. Descriptions of what registries and laboratories will confirm reflect their published material at the time of review; contact details and procedures can change.

Next steps

Read: Boerboel Registries Explained

Publisher disclosure

This page is published by Peterbuilt Boerboel, a Boerboel breeder in Livingston, Texas, which means the publisher sells the thing this page tells you to scrutinise. Read it with that in mind and run every check above on this kennel too. The relevant details for doing so: SABBS member number 0697860, NABBR number 20135344, health-test certificates published as downloadable PDFs on each dog's page under males and females, a contract published in full at /puppy-contract with a 24-month health guarantee, buyer reviews at /reviews, program details at /about-us and current litters at /available-puppies. Phone (713) 817-4120. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no fraud checklist can guarantee a safe purchase.