Scammers are targeting the owners of missing pets claiming their dog has been "dognapped".
Fraudulent messages are being sent to dog owners who are appealing for the return of their pet.
After posting their contact details online in the hope of being reunited with their beloved pets, opportunists contacted the owners from an unknown number as part of a cruel scam.
The messages claim the victim has a limited amount of time - usually a day - to transfer Bitcoin or the scammers will kill their pet.
Lancashire Police say they are investigating after incidents of owners being threatened for ransom.
The force said that at 2.56pm on March 31, police were called by a woman in Longridge who had received threatening phone calls from a man claiming he had her lost lilac and tan French Bulldog, Nelly.
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They said they would harm Nelly if she did not pay a ransom of £1,000 by 3pm that day.
In that case the man did not send any proof that he had Nelly.
The victim was then contacted the following day with a message saying: “I have your dog. It’s fine, just scared.
"Send £450 in bitcoin to this bitcoin wallet or I will sell it, or whatever. When you pay, send your address and I’ll drop it off.
"I won’t contact you again or reply. This is a throwaway phone. Police can’t help. You have until end of Thursday.”
It is not clear whether the phone call and the message came from the same individual.
Lancashire Constabulary said it takes these offences, which are classed as blackmail, extremely seriously. If you receive one of these fraudulent messages, the advice is to not respond and call the police.
Juliet Clark, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Cyber Crime Unit, said: “These despicable individuals play on the emotions of their victims when they are at their most vulnerable.
“As upsetting and tempting as it is to pay the ransom, this is scam. If people are contacted after losing a pet with similar messages, contact police on 101.”
Anybody with information about the whereabouts of Nelly is asked to call police on 101, quoting log 0934 of March 31, 2021.
