A Vancouver woman issued a warning about a cruel scheme called the Lost Pet Scam, involving the Internet and Western Union.

April Shanahan’s cat, Forrest, has been missing for three months. When the pure-bred Himalayan cat first disappeared, Shanahan posted a description of Forrest on Craigslist.com and listed her Vancouver phone number.

“He’s everything. I have no children. He’s like my child,” said Shanahan.

Shanahan said she received a call within 20 minutes after posting the ad from a man in Chicago who claimed to have found the cat.

The caller told her he was working in her neighborhood at the time of the disappearance and that Forrest climbed into his work truck.

After three separate phone calls, in which Shanahan said the man sounded genuine, the caller told her to wire $140 through Western Union because he needed gas money to drive the cat home.

Instead, she checked the money transfer company’s Web site and it warned customers of similar scams in its fraud section.

“My mind said, ‘No,’ but my heart said, ‘Yes,’” said Shanahan. “The way he played it was just perfect. He knew how to work information out of me.”

Authorities said people need to make sure the caller is giving the pet owner information about the missing pet that’s different from what was provided in the posted ad.