A VIRAL scam missing persons photo circulated on social media earlier this week claiming a girl named Gracie Mae Thompson went missing.
The post appeared to be from the girl’s mother, however, police confirmed that there’s no record of a Gracie Mae Thompson.
The poster said Gracie was a 15-year-old girl and pleaded for social media users to share her information after she was last seen in Odessa, Texas.
The Odessa Texas Police Department confirmed to The U.S. Sun that there’s no record of a Gracie Mae Thompson in the area or a missing persons report under that name.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children also confirmed they didn’t have a record of Gracie Mae Thompson.
REAL-LIFE DAMAGE
Angeline Hartmann, the Director of Communications at the NCMEC spoke to The U.S. Sun about the damage these scams have on real missing persons cases and how social media users can spot them.
Hartmann said the NCMEC has seen a dramatic increase in similar scams on social media.
The scams typically include a photo of a missing child and a caption pleading with the public to spread the word.
The problem is a majority of the time, the public isn’t alerted to the scam until after the missing person poster goes viral.
This takes up valuable time and resources from law enforcement and the NCMEC that is intended for real missing persons cases.
The NCMEC is a private nonprofit corporation that works to locate missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation, and prevent victimization.
It works closely with law enforcement officials on these cases and provides support for victims and families.
Hartmann said scams have taken up the organization’s resources and have had a damaging impact on families of former missing children.
‘DETRIMENTAL TO THEIR PROGRESS’
Oftentimes, the scammers will use photos of former missing children or recirculate old posters online.
Hartmann said that sometimes the scammers won’t even change the name of the child on a poster.
“That is a real child with a real name,” she said.
“These families are healing – they want it to go away they don’t want their pictures anymore and this can be detrimental to their progress.”
The NCMEC encourages social media users to take down missing persons posters after they’ve been found.
Eliminating the posts after the children have been located helps to protect their privacy and prevent scammers from resurfacing the photos later on.
SIGNS OF A SCAM
Social media users can prevent these scams by looking for red flags before sharing a missing person poster.
The initial Gracie Mae post wasn’t shared by the NCMEC, a law enforcement agency, or a credible news organization.
The poster also included emojis and misspellings, which the NCMEC warns are signs of a scam.
Social media users should look for the child’s name, the date they went missing, and the location they are missing from on an official poster.
Missing person posters also should include the law enforcement agency investigating the case and a contact for the department or hotline number.
“You have to be careful online,” Hartmann warned.
She advocated for social media users to double-check the signs of a missing person poster before sharing the post.
Hartmann added that it’s important for the public to continue updating themselves on the case and take the post down if the child is found.
Even though online scams are making it more difficult to share information, Hartmann urged the public to continue sharing missing person news online.
“We don’t want this to discourage people from getting involved in our mission,” she said.
“Sharing posters of missing kids works and it does bring missing children home.”
Originally Published in The US Sun on August 18, 2024
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