03/22/2024
🚨 SCAM 🚨
I’m seeing a lot of these scam posts popping up again lately & thought I’d share a few tips to avoid falling for these!
You’ll see a post that is absolutely meant to tug at your heartstrings such as an injured pet or a missing child or something you really want to spread awareness about like dangerous animals spotted in unlikely areas or people stealing catalytic converters from cars in the area (these are all scams I’ve seen I can’t even make this up)
Of course you’re going to share because you’re a caring person, and unfortunately that’s what these scammers are hoping for. They wait until these posts garner a huge amount of likes and shares and then they edit their post to something completely different. The “updates” I’ve noticed are usually houses for sale/rent for wayyyyy too cheap, cars for sale for way too cheap, illegal dental work etc. & because you’ve shared it, your friends/family may be more inclined to click a link or contact the poster because a trusted person shared the post.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
These are almost ALWAYS posted in a buy/sell/trade group, so before you share check where the original post was posted. If it’s in a buy/sell/trade group it’s probably a scam
They usually put a hashtag and then the location with the hopes the people in the area they’re pulling the scam in will see ie.
The comments will be turn off in the original post. Check to see the original post if the comments are off it’s a scam, how are you desperately searching for an owner or parent but don’t want anyone commenting ?
The original poster will either be a brand new account or an account that was hacked and hasn’t posted anything on their page in months.
You can also copy the caption and search it and other posts (most likely with the same pic and caption) will come up
So next time someone comments on your shared post & you don’t remember sharing it, check the edit history on the original post ✨
Happy scrolling 🖤