Lethbridge Police warning public to be cautious sharing social media posts
LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) is advising the public to be careful with what they post on social media.
LPS says they have seen an influx of hoax posts, primarily on Facebook, that involve missing children, wandering seniors, children found with no identification or injured pets.
The posts then get shared many times across the platform, and the original poster then changes the content to a phony prize give away, too-good-to-be-true rental opportunity or multi-level marketing scam.
Sergeant Kevin Talbot with the Economic Crimes Unit said, “Scammers prey on good intentions and the desire to help. It’s critical, with so much false information circulating online, that everyone exercises a little bit of due diligence and verifies the contents of a post before sharing it.”