'I lost half my life savings to African dog scammers who swindle animal-loving Brits'

Hundreds of social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube - claiming to be fundraisers from pet shelters - are being operated from Mityana, a town in central Uganda. Open source intelligence techniques (OSINT) were used to examine the accounts and found that scammers operating out of Mityana have conned animal lovers around the world out of more than £540,000 in five years, after appealing for financial help on the donation platform GoFundMe. Now a BBC Africa Eye investigation from the BBC World Service, which has been shared with The Mirror , has exposed their lies. An undercover reporter said: “Last year, we received a tip off about the large-scale scam. “Grassroot organisations in Uganda and Europe told of their worry about what was happening to dogs in Mityana and to donors around the world. The volume of videos was overwhelming – so many accounts, often changing their names – and so many dogs.” One 15-second TikTok video posted in January, showed an injured dog lying on the side of the road, saying it “got into an accident” and asking viewers “to save his life” by sending donations via an online link. Named Russet by a donor, thousands of pounds were raised before, three weeks after the post, a UK donor secured his release and he was taken to a veterinary clinic in Kampala. The vet, Dr Isa Lutebemberwa, said his injuries were unlikely to have been accidental and, despite his best efforts, Russet died. Dr Lutebemberwa said: “He endured a lot of pain and suffering.” The undercover reporter continued: “Russet appeared to have been passed around different content creator groups for three weeks, while having severe injuries to his hind legs. Russet and his pain appeared to have been used as props for generating content, and possibly revenue.” Animal lover Lianne Stone, a 38-year-old carer from Manchester , was scammed out of her savings, which she donated to help dogs like Russet. She said: “The videos are heartbreaking, painfully thin dogs, some injured, some in pain. It’s hard to scroll past them without thinking, ‘I should help them’.” Of the scammers, she continued: “They fooled me. Over six months I gave them more than £1,300 - over half of my savings. I sent money by PayPal and Western Union. I thought I was making a difference to these poor dogs.” Investigators reviewed hundreds of online pages raising money for pet shelters in Uganda. Almost 40% of them were linked to shelters in Mityana. The donation money was being used to buy phones, on pool parties and cars, according to the BBC. Bart Kakooza, chairman of the Uganda Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, said: "These young men [the scammers] realised they can make money if they get a dog." Typical videos show dogs living in makeshift shelters. Viewers are told “they are hungry” asked “please help us”. Lianne stumbled on videos of hungry dogs while scrolling on Instagram in January 2025. She said: “I’ve got a chihuahua called Rowley. It was clear to anyone who came across my page that I loved dogs. These videos started appearing on my feed - starving six week old puppies in Uganda, desperately trying to eat bones. I commented underneath, ‘Why are they so hungry?’ and started getting messages back asking for money to help feed them.” Scammers assured Lianne, who is single, that they would rescue the dogs, but needed funds to care for them. She said: “I transferred my first £70. The person on the other end promised to use it to feed the dogs in the video. I felt better knowing that I’d helped them.” Her friends donated, too. The BBC’s undercover reporter went to one shelter run by Charles Lubajja, where about 15 dogs were kept in the same cage, lying in their own waste. Many appeared severely underweight and lethargic. Lubajja said the shelter primarily exists to make money from social media viewers abroad. He gave advice on how to increase revenues, sharing tricks including how to film fake veterinary treatments. He was secretly filmed telling the reporter: "Once you receive the GoFundMe money, you use it to buy a car or build a house.” He told the reporter to “squeeze” and “drain” donors - also confessing that content creators have “cut the dogs” to make them appear more battered. This all tallies with Lianne’s experience. She explains: “I got loads of messages asking me to donate via Paypal, which I did. I’d pay £5 here for a taxi for them to take the dog to the vets, another £10 for cartons of milk, £25 for big bags of dog food. I’d throw in £15 for the men to get themselves some dinner.” Lianne, who had little disposable income, added: “I had about £2,000 in my savings account and gave away £1,300 of it - probably more.” She first suspected wrongdoing when she asked for a personal video of the dogs eating. She said: “They sent me a clip of a group of older dogs - not the puppies I’d wanted to help. Something wasn’t quite right.” Last July, the penny dropped. She said “Despite my donations, the dogs just weren’t getting better. When the videos came, I could see the dogs were hurting. The dogs cowered like they’re going to get hit. I suddenly thought, ‘that dog is scared of that man’. Something isn't right.” Realising she’d been scammed, she continued: “My stomach dropped. I was devastated.” The “business” is so organised that some shelter owners allow multiple content creators to film with the animals for a fee. In turn, they run their own fundraising drives, using the video footage of dogs. Last August, following the scam, Lianne deleted Instagram. She says: “I came off social media, It had affected my mental health.” Mityana Police said they have investigated animal cruelty at dog shelters in the area, rescuing injured dogs and making arrests. One case was closed with a warning. Lianne said: “I’ll never get the money back that I’ve lost and the dogs are still in danger. The more successful the scam gets, the more animals these people will harm. It’s disgusting.” Dr Isa says fundraising platforms must carry out more due diligence, adding: “On the government side, there needs to be better shelter regulation.” When contacted by The Mirror, a TikTok spokesperson said: “Per our Community Guidelines , we don't allow content that shows or promotes animal abuse, cruelty, neglect, or exploitation. Nor do we allow content that promotes scams, fraud, or deceptive schemes.” They said between October and December 2025, 97.7% of content they removed for breaching their fraud and scam policies was taken down before being reported. They also removed 99.4% of content that breached their animal abuse policies. We also contacted GoFundMe, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram for comment *BBC Africa Eye’s TV Documentary ‘Save our Dogs: Inside Uganda’s Rescue Scam’ can be seen on BBC iPlayer . The World Service radio documentary ‘For the love of Dogs’ is available on BBC Sounds. *A GFM spokesperson said: "Our Trust & Safety team works around the clock to make sure people can give safely on GoFundMe and misuse is rare. We have banned several accounts linked to this activity and would encourage anyone with concerns to report it to us. We remain the only major platform with a Giving Guarantee allowing donors to give in confidence.”