Posted by: James Cowan – 10/04/2023
FaceBook and other social media platforms are a great way of sharing information with friends and family, but sometimes, what you share isn’t what it seems.
More and more fake posts are popping up on social media each day, so here’s a few things to look out for before sharing any of the lost dog posts or missing people posts. Remember, if in doubt, only share content from known friends, family or legitimate sources.
This one has been doing the rounds for a few months now. It states that a young woman has been attacked and they are looking for relatives to come forward. So, what gives away the fact its fake?
Well, for starters, the person putting the post on has turned off commenting. Would you really turn off commenting if you wanted people to get in touch?
That’s not all, if you click on “Bernice’s” name on the post to see her profile, there’s more clues to why this post is fake.
“Bernice” only joined the group in the last couple of days, and if you look a little closer, you will notice that this isn’t a person, it is a Facebook Page. Perhaps they are also seeking followers for the page??
Dig a bit deeper into the posters details, and you will notice that there is no history which would suggest the page was only set up recently.
Once you share a post on FaceBook, the person that posted it can go back to the post and change it to contain different content which would look like you have liked or shared it – this could be anything!
“Ketty” shared this post about her Grandparents empty home and is looking for tenants. FAKE! – Again, “Ketty” has turned off commenting for the post and the link that she has provided, well, would you want to click on something that could install viruses on your browser or take you to some dodgy site?
Free Giveaways!!? Erm, no, just more scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Always look for genuine posts from businesses that have the blue “verified” tick against their names.
ASDA are not giving away free gift cards in this post, all that is on offer if you click the link is the risk of a virus or giving your personal information which would be sold to hackers. Is it really worth clicking that link or sharing the post so others could be caught out?
People will play on your good nature. “Anna’s” uncle doesn’t really have dementia. In fact, “Anna” probably doesn’t even have an uncle because “Anna” doesn’t exist.
Again, comments have been turned off by “Anna” so that no one can call her out on her fake post.
Oh look, “Anna” only joined the group a couple of days ago. Alarm Bells??
Dig deeper and her profile is only a day old…
If in doubt – don’t share it out!