Brits warned not to share 'missing child' posts on Facebook after hoax

02 February 2023 , 21:32

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Well-intentioned Brits could be scammed from fake 'missing child' posts (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police have warned Brits not to share ‘missing child’ posts on Facebook as you could be accidentally sharing a scam.

There has been an increase in the hoax posts which claim to be trying to help find a missing kid - similar posts are often shared for missing pets or injured animals.

But the cruel scam is actually a trick to con well-meaning Brits so instead of helping reunite a desperate family you could end up helping a crook profit.

After getting people to share the post widely, they can edit it, including adding dubious links that friends, or others who trust you, might click as it looks like you’ve endorsed whatever is shared.

After sharing what people think are helpful posts, they can be edited to contain malicious links and scams (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Fact checker site Full Fact uncovered one such bogus post that claimed an autistic boy called Brayden had gone missing along with the family dog.

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The post read: "HELP!!! #Hartlepool My son Brayden JOHNSON took off this morning with our dog hank.

"He autistic and has been missing for eight hours if anyone sees him please PM me please re-post on any sites.

"I already contacted police."

But Brayden, and his dog, don’t exist, the site confirmed, and no police forces have received missing persons reports.

Cleveland Police told them: “We do not have any missing person of that name. Any missing people appeals would go on official Cleveland Police social media pages (albeit some members of the public put their own on before police do it!)”

The post had already appeared in a number of local Facebook groups across the UK - all of which used the same photograph.

Almost identical posts popped up in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and Newmarket, Suffolk.

Northamptonshire Police and Suffolk Constabulary both confirmed to Full Fact that none of the names matched people reported missing their areas.

Derbyshire Police Online Safety page warns: "We've raised this subject previously, but further similar posts are still being widely shared on community pages.

"Please be aware of hoax posts regarding missing persons, missing pets, injured animals etc.

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"Once shared a number of times, the post is edited to something else, such as crypto investments or fake scam giveaways.

They say one way to tell if it's false is to see if the comments are disabled.

This is a tactic used by criminals so they can't raise the alarm to others that it's fake.

"If the comments are disabled, DO NOT SHARE.

"Think! If you were trying to locate a vulnerable child, would you really disable comments?"

Kieren Williams