Fraud alert: Fake social media posts

***Injured dog found; can you help? Please share***

If you’re a social media user, you might have seen messages like this.

A post appears, often on local selling sites or community pages, asking people to share news of a lost or found pet.

It may be shared by hundreds of people, just like you, who want to see this beloved pet back home.

However, there was never a missing pet.

The post has been created by a fraudster, often using photos they found on the internet.

The fraudster can then change the post to anything they want to, so by the time your friends see it, they might see a post about a prize draw, or what seems like a good deal on a holiday property which doesn’t exist.

Fraudsters know that missing/injured pets will tug at people’s heartstrings. Sadly, they exploit this, overshadowing genuine missing pet posts.

They also know your friends are far more likely to trust a post shared by you. 

Always question the source of anything you share on social media.