Annie
9th Oct 2025
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Our MoneyMagpie team is a bunch a animal lovers, with a number of cats and dogs between us. So, we take pet care very seriously – including making sure other pet owners are aware of the latest scams that target our pets (and wallets).
The Scam Email
One of our team recently received a convincing-looking scam email about their pet’s microchip.
All cats and dogs must be microchipped by law. Most are now done when they are born, but older pets may need to ensure they have one done to avoid fines.
You register your microchip details with a service – there are about a dozen main ones – in case your animal gets lost. Your vet can recommend a service if you don’t have one already. It costs around £20-£40 to register your pet.
The scam email says this:
Your Pet’s Microchip is About to Expire
Hello [Your Full Name]!
This is a friendly reminder sent to you byTrack A Pet®.
Our records indicate that your microchip enrollment for [Pet name], hasexpired.
[Your pet’s] microchip number [xxxxx the actual microchip number of your pet] will soon display “unregistered animal” on our searchable network.
We have these details: [MM note: These are listed and will be correct or your old details]
- Microchip number
- Pet species
- Pet gender
- Pet name
- Your name
- Registered email address
- Your phone
- Your address
In order to still be contacted at [your number] or to update your emergency pet keeper contact information for [your pet], please visit the link below.
One last thing.
You will need [your pet’s] microchip number: [their accurate number] to renew your pet’s microchip enrollment. You can copy and paste your pet’s microchip number for accuracy.
This email will come from a service that calls itself something like PetTracing, TrackAPet, PetFinder or similar. The same company uses a wide variety of similar-sounding email addresses and false company names.
This looks like a very convincing email. Don’t get caught out!
How to Spot the Scam
There are a few telltale signs that this is a scam – but it’s a good one, so look closely.
- It comes from a service that is not the one your pet is registered with
- It includes old data such as a previous address
- Your email service has flagged it as spam
- The email address ends in .ai
- The company has negative reviews on TrustPilot
- You cannot Google the company to find its website independently
This email is so convincing because it includes so much legitimate information about you and your pet.
However, this is not because of a data breach. The company behind these emails has registered itself as a private pet tracing service, which entitles it to access to the shared database of pet tracing services.
This means they can then send emails to people in the hope they fall for the fact that the chip is expiring (they don’t expire), and that they’ll get them to sign up to a one-off or annual payment. People care about their pets and want to make sure they’re protected, so it is easy to target vulnerable people who don’t want their pet to be unreturned if it is lost – and that’s what these scammers are banking on.
What to Do
If you get an email about your pet’s microchip expiring, ignore it. Pet microchip registrations do not expire.
If you want peace of mind, or you have signed up to a pet tracing service that has additional annual fees for extras beyond lost pet tracing, go to the website of the company your pet is registered with. Call them on the phone to check that they have not sent you any emails, and make sure they have your up-to-date information.
Report the email to your email provider as phishing.
Leave a review on TrustPilot to ensure other people don’t get caught out, too.