SEDAN, Kansas (KSNW) – Sedan Police are warning the public about fake missing person and pet scams.
“While social media is a great way to communicate and stay in touch with friends, family and businesses, it has also become a popular target for fraudsters trying to steal our personal and financial information,” the SPD said.
This scam targets social media users by creating posts on local buy and sell sites about missing children, elderly people or pets that are not actually missing. The posts are designed to deeply touch you and get you to share them.
“These posts are usually shared in local buying and selling groups because there is already a sense of community and trust there and people may not realise that scammers are targeting members,” the SPD said.
When the post starts trending, the scammer changes the original wording. Sometimes it is changed to advertise a supposed property rental, property sale, or even a link to a survey that promises a cash prize for participation. When the content is changed, all shared posts are updated to show the same content, making your friends think you might recommend the promotional post.
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“This scheme has many variants, but the common thread is that it plays on our emotions, and the urgency of the message encourages affected people to share the news with their friends and family. Then your loved ones are put at risk because the ads try to get respondents to spend money or reveal personal information, which could lead to identity theft,” the SPD said.
To avoid falling victim to bait and switch offers, the Better Business Bureau offers the following tips:
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Do some research before re-sharing a post on your profile. Read the information carefully and look at the profile of the person who created and shared the original post. If the profile is from Florida but shared the post in a group from Tennessee, this may be a red flag for a scam post.
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Find out when the author created the Facebook profile. Scammers always create profiles when their old one gets blocked. If you click on their profile, you will find out how long they have been a member of the group. You can also find additional information on their public profile.
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You should see it in the official points of sale. If a child goes missing or a tragedy occurs, you will most likely hear about it from law enforcement and not in a random post.
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Perform a reverse image search on Google. You can right-click on the photo and use a service like Google Lens to see if the images in the post are used in other ads or on websites in other cities.
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Find similar posts. Copy the text from the post and paste it into Facebook's search function to see if other posts with the same text and different images appear.
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Notify moderators. Alert administrators to fake profiles, compromised accounts, and spam messages by reporting them on Facebook and Instagram.
“Navigating social media in the 21st century is fraught with dangers and pitfalls. Staying informed and vigilant remains the best protection against scammers,” the SPD said.
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