How not to get scammed buying a Maine Coon

Online pet listings can be difficult to verify. The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers may steal or manipulate animal photos and pressure people for money. These checks can help you find inconsistencies, but no single sign proves a seller is dishonest or that a kitten is healthy.

The 5 red flags

1. 🚩 You cannot verify the kitten before paying. Ask for a live video or an in-person meeting, and compare what you see with the listing and records. A video is useful evidence, not proof by itself.
2. 🚩 Health-record answers stay vague. Ask which screening or veterinary checks were done, on which cat, when, and by whom. Have your veterinarian help interpret the records; a document or badge is not a guarantee of future health.
3. 🚩 Price is paired with pressure or unverifiable claims. A low or high price alone proves nothing about health or honesty. Compare the contract, records, seller identity, and what the price includes; slow down if a seller uses a bargain or a claimed premium to rush you.
4. 🚩 The seller insists you can only pay using a hard-to-reverse method. The FTC warns about gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, and payment apps when a seller insists on them. Do not move off-platform if you are relying on a marketplace’s payment protections.
5. 🚩 A reverse-image search finds the kitten photo elsewhere. This can reveal a copied image, but breeders may also reuse their own photos. Ask the seller to explain the match and verify it with a new, specific photo or live video.

More tells that give a scammer away

These details are reasons to pause and verify, not verdicts on their own.

• 🚩 The details change when you ask follow-up questions. Compare names, kitten identity, records, contract terms, and payment instructions; contact the business using information you found independently.
• 🚩 The seller asks you to decide immediately. The FTC advises people to slow down and research the seller rather than letting urgency replace checks.
• 🚩 You cannot get clear answers about the handoff or contract. Ask who you will meet, where the kitten will be handed over, what the contract says, and what happens if plans change. Use the questions every buyer should ask as a prompt.

The old advice scammers have beaten

Some classic “how to verify” tips no longer work on their own, because scammers adapted. Here’s how to actually verify.

• ✓ Verify registration at the source — a forwarded form is no longer proof. Scammers steal and edit real catteries’ registration documents, so “here’s my registration” means nothing by itself. Call TICA or CFA (or use the registry’s own lookup) and confirm the cattery name and number yourself.
• ✓ A cattery being absent from TICA’s or CFA’s public breeder list is not a red flag. That listing is a paid spot many legitimate breeders skip. What matters is that their registration checks out when you contact the registry.
• ✓ Call the references — actually phone them. Don’t just collect a vet’s name and a “happy buyer.” Call the vet, and call at least one past buyer, and confirm they’re real.
• ✓ Insist on live video of the whole kitten — several angles, more than one spot, and the parents too — not a single cropped face. Keep asking until you’ve watched it move.

Myths that get buyers scammed

These shortcuts are not reliable ways to decide whether a seller or kitten is legitimate.

• Myth: “They have tons of followers, so they’re legit.” Follower counts mean nothing in either direction — they’re cheaply inflated by bots, and a brand-new page with almost no followers is just as often a scammer who cloned someone’s cattery. Real breeders often have very few followers.
• Myth: “A directory entry or social profile proves the seller is verified.” A name or follower count is not independent confirmation. Look up the seller and any registry or document issuer through contact information you find yourself.
• Myth: “A forwarded registration or health document proves everything.” Ask what the document covers and confirm its source where possible. A test result does not promise an individual cat’s future health.
• Myth: “No home visit automatically means a scam.” Ask the breeder about their visit policy and agree on a way to see the kitten. A live video can help, but it does not replace the in-person handoff required for a TrueKitten transaction.

What a safe purchase looks like

• ✓ You can see the actual kitten in person before the handoff and compare it with the listing.
• ✓ You have time to read the written contract, ask what it covers, and review available records with your veterinarian.
• ✓ You know who you will meet, where the handoff happens, what payment method is used, and which party can answer questions if there is a problem.
• ✓ You keep the payment and conversation on-platform when you are relying on marketplace protections. The FTC also recommends checking the seller and avoiding a seller who insists you can pay only with a hard-to-reverse method.

What TrueKitten checks—and what it does not

• Every breeder in our catalog is verified — we authenticate each cattery’s identity before its listings go public, so the seller you’re talking to is never anonymous.
• Health documents are authenticated against their issuing registries and matched to the cat by microchip — so the paperwork you see is real.
• Your payment is held in escrow-like custody via Stripe until you confirm the in-person handoff with a one-time PIN — the breeder can’t be paid before you’ve met your kitten.
• If a deal turns out to be fraudulent, the Safe-Handover Guarantee makes you whole through the resolution process, usually straight from the funds still held — a conditional backstop, not insurance.

Those protections apply to transactions completed through TrueKitten’s documented process. If you’re comparing a seller or a different site, read its terms and verify what it actually checks and protects before paying.

Use the checklist, then browse current listings

Use the existing Maine Coon Scam-Check to keep your questions together. When you’re ready to compare kittens, browse current Maine Coon listings and the public breeder directory. If none fits, the listing and directory pages link to TrueKitten’s existing matching alerts.

Sources: FTC — Animal lovers: learn to spot and avoid this breed of pet scams · FTC — Getting a pet? Avoid scams