Beware of Scam Posts

There has been an uptick in missing posts, or so it seems. Many of these posts are found on open groups like lost and found, rants and raves or garage sale pages. You may have good intentions when you share missing posts, but you may just be helping others prey on your friends and family. So how can you know if it’s real or not?

Are You Seeding A Scam?

When you share a scam picture/post, you are planting a scam seed into your social media feed. This gives the scammer access to everyone who follows you.

One of the biggest indicators of these fake posts is that scammers often turn off the comments. If a child were genuinely missing, the comments would remain active to help boost the post’s visibility as people comment and share.

How can I spot a scam post?

To determine if a missing person post is real, watch for these red flags:

• Profile credibility: Check the profile of the original poster. Many times these are new accounts with very little activity on their wall or are in another country.
• Source credibility: The information should come from the NCMEC, an official law enforcement agency, or a credible news source.
• Spelling and grammar: Beware of posts containing misspellings, improperly used words, or syntax errors.
• Call to action: Legitimate posts will ask you to take appropriate action and provide clear instructions on how to help.
• Identifying information: Ensure the post includes specific details about the child, such as their name, the date they went missing, and the location they were last seen.

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What is the purpose of these scams?

The reason is usually financial, but not just for clicks. An account posts what appears to be a plea about a missing person or a missing pet and then asks people to share the post to spread the word. Your friends then share it, because they trust you.

Once the post has been shared widely, the scammer edits the original post to ask for money, create an ad or share a “business” deal. Because your friends trust you, they may actually fall for the edit and give away personal information that the original poster can then use to scam your friends and family.

How does Panhandle Scanner handle these reports?

When someone notifies the page or us personally about a missing person or runaway, the first step we take is to speak directly to the parent(s), guardian, next of kin, or reporting party. This give us the opportunity to verify the situation, get the whole story, and obtain permission to release the information.

Good missing person posters should include:

• The child’s name and personal identifiers (age, height, weight, eye and hair color)
• The date they went missing
• The location they are missing from (and any other known information about last time seen)
• The law enforcement agency handling the case, their phone number, or NCMEC’s 24/7 hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST

If you want to report a runaway or missing person, please message the page with your contact information and the information needed to create a poster.