Be careful what you share on social media. Scammers bait people with emotional, fake pleas to share posts about missing children or injured pets, the Better Business Bureau warns.
– The pictures pasted on social media posts about missing children or lost, injured pets may not be what they seem. And if you share them, you may be spreading a scam to your friends and not even know it.
“And, you feel compelled to share,” said Jason Meza, regional director of the Better Business Bureau.“It is a bait and switch where they’ll try to get as many people to share a lost pet, a missing person or missing item,” Meza said. The description in fake missing children posts is often identical -- the child is wearing black Converse with red and purpose shoestrings and a zip-up hoodie.Scammers play on emotions and urgency to get you to share the post. Once it’s spread, they edit the post to something entirely different, such as a fake ad including a malicious link. Because you shared the post previously when it was seemingly an urgent matter, your friends are under the impression you support the new content.
The scammers want you to click on the link in order to steal your money or information. There is also a risk of malware.
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