Everything you see on Facebook isn't always true, including a post shared by hundreds of people about a baby dumped in Kingsville.
A deleted post in the Trash to Treasure Kingsville group said a kid was found on the road abandoned and taken in by the police.
Many neighbors thought this post was real, but according to experts, it's the opposite.
KRIS 6 News contacted Kingsville Police Chief John Blair who told us he didn't know the context of the photo with the officers but he confirmed the officers in the photos are not with the Kingsville Police Department. He added that his department has not responded to or received a call about a baby found along a roadside.
"We did not see a call on that at all," he said. "So, I cannot say if the photo is fake or not fake. What I can say is those officers are not officers with the Kingsville Police Department.”
So what are these scams? According to experts like Katie Galan, Director of Education at the Better Business Bureau, these posts are an engagement scam where they want you to share it then change the post into a sales pitch.
“These are really common," she said. "We see these shared all the time and it could be about a missing person or a missing pet. We see the pets a lot or an elderly person that shown up somewhere and to identify who they are.”
So now that we realize the issue at hand, how can we get better at noticing these types of scams?
Well, one option is to look carefully and pay attention to the creator of the post.
“You want to triple check the source," Galan said. "So, lets say if it comes from Kingsville PDor whoever it may be, you want to get on the phone and call Kingsville PD and ask do you guys actually have a missing child."
In addition, even simpler options such as lack of information shared to neighbors.
“We would give numbers as well and points of contact for the public to get back with us," Blair said.
All in all, the best option for neighbors is to slow their scroll.
“We just have to be cautious in what we share because we have a lot of posers that put news stories out there that are just not true," Blair said.
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