A recent wave of missing person reports on Facebook have appeared and are actually scammers making attempts to steal personal information from people.
An account will pose as a page that shares people who are missing in a specific area and may ask people to donate towards the families affected. After the post is shared several times, the account would change the posts to something completely different. When people click on the link, they put themselves at risk.
These days, scammers are going to extreme measures to get money or access to personal information from unsuspecting people. Deputy James "Bubba" Revell, supervisor for the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office, spoke about some other ways that people are being tricked into giving money away.
He detailed that scam accounts will pretend to be the police and send a person a message on Facebook stating that there is a warrant out for their arrest. The account tells the person that if they send a certain amount of money, the warrant will be dropped or they will get less jail time. Deputy Revell said that the accounts may pose as actual officers in the department. This scam may also happen by phone.
Georgia Power is another common outlet that scammers use. An account will pretend to be Georgia Power and message someone that their electricity is about to be turned off and ask for a payment. They would have the person send money through an ATM that doesn't trace back to Georgia Power.
How to avoid falling for online scams:
- Do NOT send money online, and do NOT click suspicious links.
- Do NOT call someone back using the same number they called you from. Call the company or department directly.
- Law enforcement will not contact you by phone or social media if they have a warrant.
- Do your own research before sharing a missing person post unless it is from a verified and credible source.
- Do NOT shop directly from social media ads. (TIktok, Instagram, Facebook, etc.) Make sure the site or brand is legit.
Deputy Revell also shared a tip that most families should use with the emergence of AI. AI is able to mimic a person's voice to be used in a phone call. Scammers use AI to call a family member of someone they are impersonating to ask for money,
"I would have a safe word that only my family knows to distinguish whether I am talking to who I think I am talking to," Revell said.
Be sure to report any suspicious pages and share with your community to keep them away of the threat that is out there. Millions of dollars are stolen every single day due to people not being aware of criminals trying to take from them.
If you think you are being scammed, trust your gut and STOP all communication with the potential scammer. You can contact Deputy Revell at BUBBA.REVELL@BULLOCHSHERIFF.COM or 912-764-1791 for help or more information.