Once the scammers gained full control of the SCPA East Texas Facebook page, they began posting pictures of highly desirable breeds for adoption, such as pure-bred French Bulldog and Yorkshire Terrier puppies that are typically sold for more than $2,000, according to the SPCA. At this time, the SPCA reported it to Facebook/Meta but it is still “in review,” so the local nonprofit still doesn’t have access to its Facebook page. (Contributed Photo/Screenshot)

The SPCA of East Texas leadership team says its Facebook page has been hacked by scammers who are soliciting money from fake adoptions.

The local SPCA said it is one of several known animal rescues who have had their Facebook pages hacked by cybercriminals and “used to solicit money from unsuspecting animal lovers and potential adopters.”

“We heavily rely on our social media accounts to build an animal-loving community with our 35,000 followers, stay connected with our supporters, fundraise, and, most importantly, help animals in our program find their forever families,” said Amy Turman, chair of the board for the SPCA ETX. “These scammers have hijacked our page, removed our access, and limited our life-saving mission.”

The SPCA ETX is a 10-year-old foster-based nonprofit animal rescue whose mission is to improve the lives of animals, alleviate their suffering, and elevate their status in society.

The cybercriminals began by submitting a seemingly legitimate link to the SPCA ETX Facebook platform that appeared to be sent from a well-known pet adoption website that lists more than 315,000 adoptable pets annually from nearly 14,000 animal shelters. When SPCA ETX staff clicked the link, the hackers were able to gain access to the organization’s Facebook account, change the password, and remove all administrators.

Once they gained full control, the scammers began posting pictures of highly desirable breeds for adoption, such as pure-bred French Bulldog and Yorkshire Terrier puppies that are typically sold for more than $2,000.

“These animals are not in their possession, and they do not intend to actually sell animals,” Turman said. “These cybercriminals have created Google forms for potential adopters to fill out and submit. Once received, the hackers instruct applicants how and where to send their ‘refundable’ deposits. They will collect money from Zelle, Chime, or Venmo.”

The SPCA ETX immediately filled out an incident report on June 22 with Meta, the multinational technology conglomerate that owns Facebook. As of Wednesday, June 26, the incident is still “in review” by Meta.

SPCA ETX staff members have sent an email blast to all SPCA ETX supporters and announced the scam on their personal Facebook pages and the organization’s website.

At the time of publication, the SPCA ETX has received more than 25 calls from people inquiring about the fake dogs posted, and four individuals have submitted deposits, according to the SPCA.

Several SPCA ETX supporters have reported the scammers’ fraudulent posts to Meta, but the tech giant refuses to remove the content. SPCA ETX supporters who inquired received a response that reads, “We use a combination of technology and human reviewers to process reports and identify content that goes against our Community Standards. In this case, we did not remove the content you reported.”

“We want to share this unfortunate experience with our community to prevent potential adopters from submitting an application and sending money to these cybercriminals,” Turman said. “To add insult to injury, this hack occurs at a time when majority of local shelters are at capacity through the summer months. It is our hope that this cautionary tale serves as the impetus for local rescues to amp up their Facebook security, change all passwords, and consider two-step authentication and log-in alerts. We are all working toward the same mission. We are all at capacity. And like so many nonprofit organizations, we all rely on our social media platforms to fundraise and fulfill our missions.”

The SPCA of East Texas does charge adoption fees, but it does not accept deposits online to “hold” an animal.

“Our approach is to match-make the best fit by having a potential adopter specify the type of companion animals they are seeking (age, energy level, personality, etc.) through our website,” said Karen Parker-Kilgore, interim director for the SPCA ETX. “Once an application is made for a specific dog/cat, the organization’s Adoption Coordinators will reach out to the applicant.”

Turman added that the SPCA ETX also invites the community to attend Adoption Saturdays every other Saturday.

“These events are a wonderful opportunity to invite our East Texas neighbors into our facility, introduce them to our passionate staff members and volunteers, and hopefully create a meet-cute between people and pets that results in a furever kind of love.”

If you would like more information on how to adopt a pet from the SPCA ETX, please visit spcaeasttx.com or contact the SPCA ETX Adoption Center Tuesday-Saturday at 903-596-7722.