South Bend Police are warning you about a photo on Facebook that’s paired with a fake story about a 5-year-old girl who vanished after going on a bike ride in St. Joseph County… So… how can you tell that it’s bogus? Here are a few ways:
*If we perform a reverse image search on this photo, it’s linked to a 2021 news story about two dogs being stolen… in England.
*Notice how the location in the post is #hashtagged. We’ve posted about a similar scam in the past that followed that same format. The post may be reworded to appeal to a different audience.
*The post is shared in a local garage sale group. As a police department, we aren’t sharing information about missing/abducted children in your neighborhood swap meet groups. We are publishing the information via our official social media channels AND sharing with local media outlets.
*Check out the profile of the person who created the post. More often than not, the profile will appear as though it was just created and will have little to no photos.
*Look at the comment section on the post. Oh wait, there isn’t one? Exactly. Scammers will typically shut off comments on fake posts to deter people from calling them out to fellow Facebookers.
*Have you shared a post like this before? Do us a favor and scroll back down to the post you shared. It’s not the same picture anymore, is it? Once a post gets traction, scammers will change the picture and text, often to a phony real estate listing containing a suspicious link. DON’T CLICK IT!
If you’re ever unsure about the validity of a post, check your local law enforcement agency’s social media pages to see if it came from there. If not… scroll on.
