Better Business Bureau, local police department warns of new ‘bait-and-switch' scams

Yahoo

08-03-2025

The Better Business Bureau is warning Facebook users of a new 'bait-and-switch' scam going around.
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According to the Better Business Bureau, scammers are posting photos of injured animals, missing children, or lost older adults to grab people's attention and get them to share the post with their friends.
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After the post is shared, the scammers change the original post to a deceptive rental ad, sales pitch, or link to a survey that 'guarantees' a cash prize.
These 'bait-and-switch' ads will then convince the user to make a deposit for the rental property or get the personal information.
The Middletown Police Department shared a post saying that photos of their officers were used in these scams.
The department said the easiest way to determine if these post's are fake is if their comments have been turned off.
You can also do a reverse google image search to see how many times the photo was used in a post.
'These particular posts spread like wildfire, we ask that you report them as you see them. Thank you and be aware!!' the Middletown Police Department said in their post.
Officer Ballinger and Officer "Beasley" are fine and not missing but their photos, unfortunately, were posted as part of...
Posted by Middletown Division of Police on Thursday, March 6, 2025
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