SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — It is now a weekly occurrence for most of us. The social media emergency scam post. Maybe you were scrolling and happened upon it in a local Facebook group. Maybe a friend shared it, or someone posted it in a group chat.
Maybe your mom sent it to you.
Most often these posts outline some sort of tragic and/or frightening situation. A missing child, an escaped criminal, and calls to action. “URGENT”, “ATTENTION”, “PLEASE SHARE”, “BUMP THIS”, “‼️‼️‼️”.
KELOLAND News receives many tips for posts such as these from concerned viewers. We also receive tips for actual emergency situations, and it is our responsibility to determine whether these situations are real or fake before reporting them.
Below, we will walk you through a recent example, and point out the red flags that we use to determine a fake post.
The most recent of these to circulate around Facebook is a series of posts about a supposedly missing police officer named “MARRIE-ANNE HENDRIX” whose car was sadly discovered empty in the night with her daughter still inside.
The post states there is no trace of her and lists her height and weight. It states that a “silver alert” has been issued, and that “Kathleen” may be in “EXTREME danger.”
“We urge the community to help. BUMP THIS POST AND HELP FIND HER”, ends the post.
This post is a scam. Let’s walk through some of the tells.
Note: While these posts are misleading and false, they do not appear to be a violation of Meta’s (the company which owns Facebook) community standards with regard to fraud, scams and deceptive practices, per their Transparency Center. The posts may run afoul of Meta’s spam rules; specifically one prohibiting posting at very high frequencies, though the prevalence of these scam posts may indicate otherwise.
First off, in this post, a specific law enforcement agency is not tagged or mentioned. If I were both inclined to believe this post, and I were looking to confirm the veracity of it, my first stop as a journalist would to call the agency.
If an officer from an agency were to actually be missing, then I would expect a plea for public assistance to include a direct number for the public to contact the appropriate agency. This post does not include that, and instead simply encourages sharing it.
The post also does not give any information regarding where the officer’s vehicle was supposedly found, such as the neighborhood, city or even state.
Circling back to where the supposedly missing officer is from. The post includes the hashtag of Sioux Falls, but a look at the pictured officer’s uniform includes collar details that read M.P.D.
In this case, this refers to Middletown Ohio, where the officer whose picture was used in the post was sworn in just two weeks ago.
Please note: It appears that the Middletown Division of Police is fully aware of the posts.
The name of the officer, in this post is another clue. The first name is the post is Marrie-Anne Hendrix. Shortly thereafter in the same post, she is referred to as Kathleen. This is an authenticity red flag. Another is also present, as the officer pictured is, of course, Middletown, Ohio’s own Kennedy Ballinger. Her name is visible on her badge in the photos posted.
A name is also useful in determining if something is real for another reason. It can be used as a keyword.
For the purpose of demonstration, I searched the phrase “Officer MARRIE-ANN HENDRIX” on Facebook. This is often one of my first steps in considering these posts.
Scrolling through the results, I found nearly identical posts, photos and all, in Facebook groups for communities across the nation, in Wyoming, Kansas, Florida, Georgia and more.
None of these posts directed people to contact a law enforcement agency, but instead asked them to share the post.
So far in looking at this post, we have identified four issues that draw into question its legitimacy. We have:
- A lack of appropriate and actionable contact info for a legitimate agency.
- A mismatch of the subject’s agency and the area in which she is implied to be missing from.
- Multiple mismatches in terms of the subject’s identity.
- Multiple posts from wide geographic areas implying the officer is missing in their community.
But these are not the only issues with the post in question. Looking to find further red flags with this particular post.
The post notes that a “silver alert” has been issued. A silver alert likely would not apply to a missing 27-year-old police officer, as silver alerts are often issued in the event of a missing person who is suffering from an irreversible deterioration of cognitive abilities. It is most often applied to missing senior citizens.
Looking around the newsroom, I also asked some other staff to weigh in on what they look for in identifying fact from fiction in these scenarios.
Gracie Terrall – Digital Reporter
Red flag – Post location:
“If it’s a post being circulated on one of those “buy and sell” or community Facebook pages. Those are often shared across the country and not accurate, or are very old.”
Red flag – Post style:
“This may be weird, but the extensive use of attention grabbing details — a red border on the photos, capitalized, bold words, emojis — give me pause. They seem tone deaf and excessive if it’s an actual missing person.”
Green flag – Official sourcing:
“If a post from law enforcement is shared in those groups, then I think it’s more likely true.”
Eric Mayer – Digital Manager
“I immediately check for second sources, for most breaking news situations, KELOLAND Media Group looks for two different on-the-record sources to confirm information to report. If there’s a social media post, I see if official government accounts are also sharing the same information. It is important to know the local agencies that are authorized to share information on certain topics.”
Anna Peters – Executive Producer
“I always verify any information before sharing it. I search the internet to see if there is an article on KELOLAND.com or if I can find the information confirmed by another reputable source like Sioux Falls Police or South Dakota’s Missing Person’s Clearinghouse.”
Hannah Olsen-Foster – 5 p.m. Producer
Green flag – Official source:
“The post is from an official law enforcement office or state agency. Knowing your area and local authorities helps a lot. If its an agency I’m not familiar with, I do more research.”
Red flag – Lack of secondary sourcing:
“Information that I’m not finding anywhere else. For example, a random post says a crime happened or someone is missing, but local law enforcement hasn’t posted anything corroborating that.”
