Scams: If it Doesn't Seem Right.. It Probably is a SCAM
As with many public-facing Facebook groups, websites, buy-sell sites, Facebook Market Place and Craigslist-like sites, there are scammers out there trolling for phone number listing. Posting your phone number is a fast and easy way to get in contact. But it does come with its issues. Check out our page on how to use our page without posting your phone number.
The confirmation code scam:
The Confirmation Code Scam. Here is one of the more frequently seen scams in which the scammer states that they have your pet or claim that a pet that you found is theirs. Losing a pet can be an emotional, desperate time. Scammers hope they can catch you at a weak moment, taking advantage of your worry. The misspellings are almost always identical, and they provide your first clue that the text is a scam. They almost always want you to send them a verification code. They do read post details and will try to use them to lure you into the scam. If your post says your cat has a pink collar, they will text and say they have your cat with a pink collar. Don’t fall for it. Do not respond to the text at all. Simply block their phone number and delete the text.
So why do they do this? Ultimately, they want you to click on a link they will send that will download a virus. In other cases, they are trying to get access to codes needed to create a fake Google phone number to scam more people, or get enough information to steal your Facebook identity.
REFERENCES (click the links below to read articles):
Did you get a verification code you didn’t request? You could be in danger (komando.com)
Scam alert: Don’t fall for this dangerous ‘Facebook Confirmation Code’ scam (ricksdailytips.com)
Countless Other Scams
Scammers as very creative at coming up with new ways to scam people. There is no way to document them all. And if we tried, the scammers would come up with new approaches. Just go to a search engine like Google and type in “lost pet scams”. My searched returned millions of articles. here is just a sample:
How to Recognize and Avoid Lost Pet Scams | Petco Love Lost
How to Identify Lost Pet Scam from Having and Encountered Them Before (pawmaw.com)