Should you share the missing person or dog post on Facebook? Not so fast

Social media scams are not new.

But they are getting more and more disgusting.

A year ago, a common scam floating around Facebook included a picture of a dog. Then it would ask people to share the post so the missing dog could be found.

This is a very common thing among animal rescue people, and the posts can quickly go viral. Scammers caught on and started posting fake pleas for help.

It was a good scam. Who isn’t going to share a poor pet that desperately needs medical attention? You’d have to be a real jerk to not click share.

The problem is, the dog isn’t missing. It’s a fake getting people to share it. Once it gets the desired number of shares, it gets edited.

Now the person trying to help that dog is selling something online. Not intentionally, but the post has completely different content, not the missing pet.

The missing pet scam was a good one until people caught on. Next up was sharing pictures of older people, some claiming medical issues like dementia. The posts again ask for shares so their family can be found. But there is no family and there is no missing person.

Just another scam.

A recent post popped up on an Asbury Park social media page, but this one said a baby was missing. Like the others, it asked for shares, and like the others, comments were turned off.

How to spot a Facebook scam

The scammers turn comments off so people can’t warn others of the scam. So here’s what to look for.

Before you share, vet the original poster’s profile. Did they just create the account? If so, that’s a red flag. Do they have any friends? If not, that’s another red flag. And, of course, if they’re from another part of the world than the neighborhood site they’re posting on, there’s a good chance it’s not on the up and up.

And see if comments are turned off. If someone is trying to locate a missing person or animal, what possible reason would there be to turn off comments? If comments are off, don’t share.

Ways to spot the bait-and-switch scam posts

The Better Business Bureau has some tips to avoid getting tripped up by such Facebook posts.

Take an extra close look at the profile of the person who created and shared the original post. Was the profile from Florida but the post shared in a group based in Canada? Why would you do this if you’re looking for a missing cat in Florida? Such odd twists may be a red flag of a bait-and-switch post.

Find out when the poster created the Facebook profile. Scammers create new profiles when their old one gets banned. Click on their profile to see how long someone has been a member of the group.

Step back and ask why you’ve not heard or read about a missing child in the news? Or a big fire at an apartment building? Why is a post out of the blue alerting you to troubling news?

Do a reverse image search on Google to find out if the pictures you saw were used on other ads or websites in different cities. Go to Google images. Click on the “search image” icon and drag your image to the spot to see where it originated.

Spotting a deal for a rental property? Take time to search the address to see if it’s listed on other websites. “If it’s listed for sale on one website but for rent on another, that’s a huge red flag,” the BBB warns.

You might want to do a search by copy and pasting the text from the post. You can use the Facebook search tool to see if other posts with the same text or pictures existed in the past.

Susan Tompor of the Detroit Free Press contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Fake Facebook posts requesting shares popping up more often