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WNBC Covers Beebop and Scam Artists Who Prey on Owners of Missing Pets

By on February 18, 2013 11:45 am in Brooklyn Heights, Pets

Cathy Sheehan, the former Brooklyn Heights resident who has been searching for her missing cat Beebop for almost two years, was featured on a WNBC-TV investigative report earlier this month. The piece focused on scam artists who prey upon the owners of missing pets:

WNBC-TV: Cathy Sheehan, whose cat, BeeBop, went missing during her move from Brooklyn to Maine, said some callers even took photos of her cat from her Facebook profile and edited them to make it seem like the cat was in their possession.

“It’s emotionally exhausting and draining,” said Sheehan.

Sheehan said once she offered a reward, she started getting calls from people claiming they found BeeBop.

“’We have your cat but we need to see the money first. We need to see how you’re paying,’” the callers would say, according to Sheehan.

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  • Wiley E.

    Nutz

  • Joe A

    I don’t know what the WNBC report had to say but if they suggested that Cathy is the victim of scam artists then they are delusional. She is the one scamming people by still asking for donations almost two years after her cat supposedly went missing.

  • Maria

    Hey Joe, get your facts correct before posting!

  • Knight

    Maria, are you denying that up until recently there was a well-circulated ad both offering a reward for the cat’s return AND soliciting donations to help keep the search going?

  • Cathy Sheehan

    Why are you asking Maria. Ask me.

  • Joe A

    What fact do I have wrong Maria?

  • Knight

    Don’t bait me then, answer the question.

  • http://www.facebook.com/graziggiatti Graziella Brocchi Ziggiatti

    You are so right Maria!!! Joe, do something to help people, stop disturbing….do you think you will never need people to help you????

  • Joe A

    I am doing something. I am warning people of scam artists that play on people’s love of cats to get them to donate money for this cat that has been lost for two years. TWO YEARS.

  • Joe A

    So Cathy, you posted this: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MISSING BEEBOP. If you know who JOE A aka MR. CRUSTY is, send me a PM. If you look up his comments, you will see what a horrible nasty man he is. THANK YOU!

    So what would you like to know about me sweetheart? Hmmm.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nina.pusateri.5 Nina Pusateri

    Joe A. That’s not right to say unless you have facts to back it up. Nobody would go to this length if their cat wasn’t actually missing. And I’m not sure if you have a pet yourself, but I know plenty of ppl that treat their pets like children, like a member of the family. And if either of those were to go missing, donations would definitely help if somebody does have the cat. And it may be going on 2 yrs, but I wouldn’t give up either.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nina.pusateri.5 Nina Pusateri

    Honestly I have been following this story since day one and I can’t even recall her soliciting for donations. But I don’t see anything wrong with asking for donations. Anything to keep the hope alive and if somebody is scamming, well hopefully they get enough donations to reach that amount of money. I’d pay a lot of money if an animal I cared about was missing

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    Are you saying that after a certain time a pet is never returned?

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    How about let’s start with your real name? It’s easy to make accusations behind a fake or not full name. If you don’t like how Cathy is going about finding her cat, don’t read it. And I see your quoting directly from her Facebook page. Stalk much?

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    So what if she’s soliciting donations? Do we not have the choice ourselves whether to donate and who we donate to?

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    Have you got proof that her cat is not missing?

  • Joe A

    Pretty much yeah. Move on.

  • Joe A

    I never said there wasn’t a missing cat but to be asking for donations to help find a cat that has been missing for two years is rather suspect.

  • Knight

    Who ever said that the cat is not missing?

  • http://www.facebook.com/liz.w.wolff Liz Willette Wolff

    Neither Cathy nor the BeeBop FB page, has asked for donations in over a year!! All the funds for the reward were collected long ago. That is the FACT that you got wrong “Joe A.” – whoever the heck you are (besides a anomoyous coward spreading lies).

  • http://www.facebook.com/liz.w.wolff Liz Willette Wolff

    What is nutz?

  • http://www.facebook.com/liz.w.wolff Liz Willette Wolff

    No solicitations in over a year.

  • http://www.facebook.com/liz.w.wolff Liz Willette Wolff

    Well Knight, I for one am denying it ! Reward money – all TWO THOSAND DOLLARS – were collected long ago. All came from people who CARE about not only pets, but the PAIN the owner of a lost cat must be in. It is called COMPASSION. Geez!

  • http://www.facebook.com/liz.w.wolff Liz Willette Wolff

    Sweetheart??? something a troll would say to get a reaction….

  • Knight

    All I did was ask a question … and I for one have seen the ad within the past year.

  • Joe A

    Why should I give you my name? So that you could send me harassing emails like Cathy has encouraged her followers to do to others. For exampl this is from Cathy’s FB page:

    “If you would like to send an email to Ben Bankson and Linda DeRosa asking them why they WON’T help us find BeeBop, PLEASE DO!!!
    Xxxxxxxx@aol.com (President of Willowtown Association)
    lxxxx@linda-derosa.com (Vice President of Willowtown Association)”

    Pretty reprehensible.

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    Joe did… He said the cat was supposedly missing. Which means he doubts it is.

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    You said the cat supposedly went missing 2 years ago. Supposedly – 1. assumed to be true, regardless of fact; hypothetical. 2. Accepted or believed as true, without positive knowledge. 3. Merely thought to be such; imagined.

  • http://www.facebook.com/michelle.nibbe Michelle Nibbe

    So what? What does Cathy looking for her lost cat have to do with you? Is her searching for him harming you in any way? Like I said, it’s easy to throw stones on the Internet. Yes, they were printed in full on her fb page. How does that harm you?

  • Knight

    No, it means he has no PROOF that it is, but assumes it to be true.

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