Authorities are alerting the public about a scam involving a false report of a missing child named Brandon Cooper, who is claimed to have autism and requires daily medication.
'Brandon Cooper' Missing? Evansville Police Alert Public About Online Scam Involving Fake Reports Of Autistic Child
Evansville Police have issued a public alert regarding a widespread online scam falsely claiming a missing autistic child named Brandon Cooper. Authorities urge vigilance and discourage sharing the deceptive posts, which have caused significant alarm globally.
The Evansville Police Department is urging the public to refrain from sharing this message and to report any suspicious online activity to the authorities.
44News interviewed Sgt. Trudy Day, the Public Information Officer for the Evansville Police Department, who confirmed the scam.
“I spoke with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and confirmed that this child is not missing anywhere. There’s not an amber alert or anything like that, thankfully,” Sgt. Day said.
This misleading message has been spreading across various regions worldwide, causing alarm and concern among residents. The post has appeared in multiple forms, with the location details changing each time.
“It has traveled to the UK, it has sincerely gone everywhere. So this person makes a post, they get everyone to share it and then they can go back in and edit their original post. Then it becomes basically Clickbait, and they can put whatever they want,” Sgt. Day explained.
The Evansville Police Department (EPD) has reported receiving multiple calls about this hoax and advises the community to remain vigilant against such fraudulent schemes.
They point out that the post lacks key details, such as when the child was last seen and a contact number for information.
EPD emphasizes that if there were a real case of an endangered or missing child, they would immediately post the information on their Facebook page.
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