Scam Uses Fake Lost Wyoming Kid To Prey On Sympathies Of Potential Victims

A little boy was found walking behind a home in Sweetwater County, a deputy found him and took him back to the police station, and now there’s a desperate search on to find the boy’s mother.

The Facebook post that’s making the rounds around the southwest Wyoming region says the boy knows his mom is named “Emily,” and asks people to share the post.

“Flood our feeds,” it says, so the boy can be reunited with his family.

It doesn’t ask for money, donations or credit card information, only to find this poor, abandoned little boy’s mom.

Who wouldn’t want to help?

Yup, It’s A Scam

That it doesn’t specifically ask for money or personal information makes the post seem authentic, but it’s not.

It’s a scam, and one that local authorities say is especially sneaky.

It’s one variation of an internet scam recently flagged by the Rock Springs Police Department on Thursday, said Elizabeth Coontz, records supervisor and public information officer with the department.

The “deputy” who supposedly found the boy and took him to the police station — Ryan Braidley — is not an employee of Rock Springs Police Department nor to her knowledge is he a member of the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office or Green River Police Department either, Coontz said.

The purpose of these scams is to generate clicks, she said. Anyone who would click through or repost could potentially be more predisposed to being scammed.

“Usually these posts will be ‘edited’ to be something different in a few days and by having people share the post they reach more people,” she said. “Generally, the goal is just to get shares and clicks.”

Another thing sharp-eyed people will notice is that “Sweetwater” in this post is misspelled as “Sweetwster.” Also, “neighbors” is spelled “neighbours,” which isn’t the common English spelling of the word.

While most would just say those are innocent typos, intentionally misspelling words and/or phrasing that shows it was written by someone whose first language isn’t English is a common tactic used in online scams.

Multiple law enforcement agencies warn that people who would respond despite the typos and phrasing are statistically more prone to being scammed.

Preying On Sympathies

These missing or lost-kid scams have become so prevalent that it prompted the Better Business Bureau to put out a release last year warning users to be on the lookout for these types of malicious bait-and-switch posts designed to tug at heartstrings.

Once a person shares the post with their friends, the scammer then swaps out the original post to a deceptive rental ad, a survey with a cash prize or other post with a link to a phishing scam. The scammers take advantage of the trust and sense of community in Facebook groups or among trusted friends, the agency warns.

Typically, the user turns the comments off on the post so people can’t out it as a scam.

It may also serve as a gullibility test for future scams, said Laura Baker, executive director for the nonprofit, CyberWyoming.

It could also easily lead to a crowd-sourced fund to find the “child’s parents,” she said.

“If it goes viral it would be easy to gain a few hundred dollars off of it,” she said, noting that she’s seen a post in which a button had been added to get people to donate to help find the parents.

What To Do

Both Baker and the BBB suggest doing a bit of research before immediately resharing a post.

In this case, Baker could not find a “John McNair,” the name on the fake profile, living in Rock Springs.

A second test, according to the BBB, is to search for the profile of the poster, which in “John McNair’s” case no longer exists, since the scammer creates new profiles once the old ones get banned.

The agency also suggests scanning news stories for information about a missing child or to contact the police department directly.

“Anytime we have something as significant as a missing or found child, we will post on our Facebook page with case number and other relevant information,” Coonz said. “We will also send it out to the media for dissemination.”

The BBB also suggests reporting scams to Facebook.

In the meantime, the Rock Springs Police Department is reassuring people in Sweetwater County should ignore anything asking them to help reunite “Emily” with her lost little boy.

Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.