Beware online livestock sale scams

Queensland Police Rural and Stock Crime Squad is warning people to be vigilant when purchasing livestock via social media, after a string of scams have been exposed.

Detective Senior Constable Catherine Swan reached out to livestock owners to highlight the escalation in scam activity in the sector.

"The Rural and Stock Crime Squad were investigating multiple reports of fraud where livestock are being advertised on social media and allegedly when deposits are made the livestock are either not delivered by the seller as agreed or the buyer attends an address to realise that the livestock aren’t there," Constable Swan said. 

"The reports have included different breeds of cattle, horses, donkeys and chickens."

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She said the squad encouraged livestock buyers to conduct background checks in relation to the seller and livestock before paying any deposit. 

"These checks could include arranging to inspect the livestock, requesting the Property Identification Code, National Vendor Declaration and National Livestock Identification System tag numbers," she said.

Police encouraged anyone who was a victim of this type of crime to report it the Australian Cyber Security Centre at Report | Cyber.gov.au or or report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers.