Louisiana Police Share Tips On How To Spot Fake ‘Missing’ and ‘Found’ Posts

Acadiana sees its fair share of missing children, found pets, and even found elderly persons posts on social media.

Even if you have not personally lost a pet or family member, it's easy to imagine how stressful and heartbreaking it must be not to know if they are safe or if they are in harm's way.

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Social media is one of the easiest ways to get the word out that you are missing a child, pet, or family member. It's also an easy way for scammers and criminals to spread false information in hopes of confusing the public.

Many times, these posts do reunite families with their missing loved ones or pets; however, there has been an increase in fake posts.

What's The Point Of Fake Missing Person or Pets Posts?

Scammers are typically looking for ways to make a quick buck, so why would they make fake posts that don't involve a transaction?

According to local law enforcement, the people making these fake posts hope that people will share them, thinking they are real. "They just want to flood our feeds with fake info and keep us from focusing on real situations."

How To Spot A Fake Post?

Here is a checklist of questions law enforcement recommends you ask before sharing a post.

• Is it reporting a missing child, found pet, or found elderly person?
• Did it originate from an events or Facebook Market Place page, or an unknown agency?
• Is there Missing contact information?
• Are the comments turned off?
• Does it have a hashtag (#) with name of city or state?
• Says to 'Please Bump' the post
• Says to 'flood our feeds to help find the family'

The Hammond Police Department says that if you answer 'Yes' to any of those questions, it's a fake post.

Report fake posts spreading misinformation, and make sure to double-check the source of the information before sharing.