SAN ANGELO, Texas — You've probably seen posts about homes for rent with prices too good to be true or a photo of an "injured" dog with #sanangelo in the description with a plea to post, like and or share on social media.
The San Angelo Police Department said Thursday it has been made aware of "fake" Facebook accounts creating false posts on local "swap and sell" pages.
The department said it was aware that false posts list homes with extremely cheap rent, crimes (such as thefts/burglaries) they claim to have been committed in San Angelo and a variety of other fake posts across multiple groups.
Profiles posting ask people to share/like the posts and "this unfortunately results in the misinformation being spread throughout our community, the SAPD said.
The department shares tips on how to recognize false posts and what you can do if you come across one:
- Use good judgement and do some research before sharing a post.
- Don't click like/share on every post you see on your feed.
- The majority of these profiles were recently made, have one profile picture, have recently update cover photos and have very basic generic information on them.
- Be cautious when it comes to clicking links on a post and sharing personal information.
- Check the validity of the information through your local law enforcement agency or credible news source.
- Report false posts to Facebook or a page admin to have them removed.