A boy named Andrew Bucklandon hasn’t gone missing. He didn’t leave for school and not return. He doesn’t even exist.
For those who’ve seen — or, worse, shared — the Facebook post about a purportedly missing boy the past couple of days, here are a few questions:
Does the post include a town? A link? Contact details?
It doesn’t. Because it’s bogus.
Like any good phishing scam, the missing boy ploy tugs at the heartstrings and plays on the fears of those who want to help.
They’re actually helping the scammers find more victims.
Phishers threw their latest line into social media waters on Thursday, Dec. 15.
Some moderators barely noticed it — after all, it doesn’t seem sinister:
“This is the most recent picture of my son Andrew Bucklandon his first day of school, he left yesterday morning for school and he never came back. He was last seen wearing black converses with purple and red shoelaces as well as a blue zip-up hoodie, he has dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and he’s about 5’4-5’5 and 124lb.”
Then comes the clincher:
“Please help us find him.“
Bullsh*t!
Various photos have already been used in the scam (at the top of this story), including one in which the boy is wearing a Yankees baseball cap, only the image is reversed and the NY logo is backwards.
Similar scams have included claims that a missing child has been discovered. The targets are usually buy and sell groups, yard sale groups and others whose moderators are less likely to…
