Scammers use viral photo from 2020 for copy-and-paste social media scheme | Fact check
The claim: Image shows boy, dog missing from various locations
A May 21 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a photo of a boy crying while a small white dog lies in his lap.
“HELP!!! #GreatFalls My son Brandon Smith took off this morning with our dog hank,” the post reads. “He is autistic and has been missing for eight hours if anyone sees him please PM me please re-post on any sites. I already contacted police.”
The post was shared nearly 100 times in four days. Other versions of the claim, including one that said the boy was missing in Elkhart, Indiana, were shared hundreds of additional times.
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Our rating: False
Police in the cities mentioned in the posts said they had no reports of a missing child matching the post's description. The photo in the post went viral in 2020 and is unrelated to a missing person report. The posts are examples of copy-and-paste schemes used by scammers to identify potential targets.
Photo went viral in 2020, does not show missing boy
Two police departments in areas mentioned in the posts told USA TODAY the claims are false.
“We do not have any active missing children cases at this time,” said Adrienne Ehrke, a spokesperson for the Great Falls Police Department in Montana.
Ehrke also said the Facebook group where the claim was made is “full of posts from fake profiles and scammers.”
The Elkhart Police Department in Indiana also had no reports of a missing person fitting that description, according to spokesperson Jessica McBrier.
Fact check: Photo of abandoned baby is from Chicago in 2021, not recently in Kansas City
The photo used in the posts dates back to 2020 and shows a boy crying while holding his dog as it was about to be euthanized. The image went viral at the time, as reported by WKMG-TV in Florida.
A nearly identical caption was used in a similar claim about a missing boy named Brayden Johnson, which USA TODAY also debunked.
Such posts are examples of copy-and-paste scams, which misinformation expert and University of Cincinnati professor Jeffrey Blevins previously told USA TODAY are used by scammers to find potential future targets.
“It’s a gullibility check,” he said. “They’re likely to circle back with you later on to see what you’re willing to share, or they might try to engage you one-on-one, get you to accept a friend request, that kind of thing."
Other indications of a scam include a new account making the post and having the comments disabled.
USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
Jessica McBrier, May 26, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Adrienne Ehrke, May 25, Email exchange with USA TODAY
WKMG-TV, Feb. 13, 2020, Viral photo of boy crying, holding his dog that has to be put down will give you all the feels
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Claims of missing boy in various cities are scams | Fact check
