Jonesboro police warns of Facebook scams on yard sale pages

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – Jonesboro police are warning you about a scam that is trying to use sympathy to fool people.

On Monday, Feb. 27, the department said in a social media post a trend on Jonesboro yard sale pages on Facebook, with some posts claiming an autistic child took off with a dog, or a dog was found hit on the side of the road.

WARNING: Some of the following images may be disturbing to some readers.

(Source: Jonesboro Police Department)

Police noted every one of the posts was made or shared within the last 24 hours, with several red flags noted between the posts:

All the posts are on a local yard sale page.
The original author’s page was made that day or the day before with zero friends or posts.
The posts include a city’s name via hashtag.
Comments on the posts are turned off.
The author of each post encourages readers to share, bump, or repost their message.
The same post can be seen copied in other cities with different photos.

Jonesboro police urge you to “be a responsible user of the internet and sharer of information”.

It comes after officers warned residents of posting stories of attempted kidnappings or human trafficking on social media on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

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