Scammers are using an emotionally charged social media post about a tiny baby who passed away, to trick the public into backing a bogus money making scheme online.
The image shows a gold locket with the images of hand and footprints of a tot on one side and on the other, an inscription which reads: “Too precious for this world”.
Sadly the photo appears to be genuine, but it has been stolen by scammers and is now being shared by the across Facebook in a bid to draw in concerned members of the public. And everyone who who shares these posts could become the victim of fraudsters.
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The scam follows a pattern now being used by criminals globally to draw unsuspecting members of the public to a posts which entice participation with the promise making easy money or grabbing a once-in-a lifetime bargain.
The criminals use a genuine image they find on social media and hoodwink concerned members of the public into sharing it on their social media pages.
This one appeared on Belfast Area Buy and Sell Facebook page, with a fake claim stating: “Can someone please help find the owner of this? It was found in Belfast. The owner must be really gutted that they have lost this treasured item. It’s believed the name of the baby is ‘Robin’. Flood your feeds so we can find who owns them and I’ll try and hook them up.”
It has appeared across the UK on other Facebook pages too.
And while it would be a natural instinct for most people to want to help reunite the family concerned with the jewellery, these posts ensure they are at risk of falling victim to a scam.
Here’s how the scam works:
- Fraudsters urge people to share an emotionally charged post across Facebook.
- They use the same pictures and posts in several pages under different aliases.
- They target many different groups and cities.
- Kind hearted members of the public share the post until it goes viral.
- The post is then edited by the scammers to contain another picture grab as much engagement as possible.
- The post is edited again and appears as a more serious scam encouraging people to sign up to a bogus scheme.
- The person sharing only sees the original ‘heart break’ post but as it is edited their Facebook friends see the new scam, which is now apparently endorsed by their pal.
Scammers practising this type of fraud use this sophisticated scheme to have unsuspecting Facebook users act on their behalf and build trust amongst their friends, creating social media posts about an event or news story designed to tug at the emotions.
And when children, the elderly and pets are included in the claims, they get shared further and faster as more and more people try to help.
And just as the post has gathered momentum suddenly its contents are edited entirely and people it is shared with no longer see the post about the lost baby locket or injured pet, instead they see a new post but this one is about a bogus scheme designed to scam more victims.
And the scam works because the posts appear to be endorsed by trusted friends, family and colleagues.
What to look out for in fraudulent Facebook posts:
- Use of phrases that do not match your locale: In this case the poster says ‘There is a silver alert activated on him’. There is no such thing in the UK.
- Spelling mistakes and inconsistencies.
- ‘The bump’: most of these posts include the request: “Please help bump this post” or “Please flood your feeds”
- Comments are TURNED OFF on these scam posts
Facebook has information about reporting scams here. The company said: “When something gets reported to Facebook, we’ll review it and remove anything that doesn’t follow the Facebook Community Standards. Your name and other personal information will be kept completely confidential.”
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Source: Scammers trick public over keepsake of baby who died in fake money making scheme
