Viral posts about a missing 15-year-old Texan called “Gracie Mae Thompson” have been flagged as a potential scam by internet sleuths.
Earlier this month, posts began appearing on Facebook alleging that Thompson had been missing since July 22, 2024.
One post seen by Newsweek said “My daughter has been missing since July 22nd! 16 days🥹 It only takes two seconds to share!
“#LakeWorth Her name is: Graci Mae Thompson. Age:15 Height: 5’2 Weight: 103 Hair color: Originally strawberry blonde but recently dyed black She was last seen in black shorts and a black shirt.”
Variations of the post reportedly spelled her name either Graci or Gracie and included the names of multiple locations across the U.S. and internationally.
While not all of the posts about Thompson included outside links or other calls to action other than directions to share the posts, others did and users began reporting that scammers could be using these to deliver malware.
However, as Newsweek discovered, information from an actual missing persons investigation was used to create what many considered to be a scam.
What happened?
The posts about Thompson began appearing on August 8, 2024, across multiple community groups on Facebook, often on swap shops or local marketplace communities on the social website.
Each featured photos of a girl with braces and wavy blonde hair. Reverse image searches of the photo do not show where the images come from or who they belong to.
Other Police Departments have since flagged some of the posts about Thompson as a scam. Colorado’s Parachute Police Department published a Facebook post on August 10, with a screengrab of Thompson’s photo and the title “BEWARE OF SCAMS!”
“Actual Missing Person posts will contain specific information regarding the subject, including the subject, including last known location,” it said.
“Always verify the information with that Department’s website/social media outlets if it doesn’t seem legit.”
As reported by the blog ScamFinder, other posts have appeared since suggesting that Thompson had been found, featuring new website links ostensibly with information about her reappearance. Scamfinder followed some of the links attached to social posts about Thompson, which it said directed the browser to remove VPN and ad-blocking software.
Some of the posts about Thompson’s safe return specified that she was from Tomball, Texas. Newsweek contacted Texas police authorities to see if any details matched historic or ongoing investigations.
Was there a real investigation?
Senior Deputy Thomas M Gilliland of Harris County Sherriff’s Office told Newsweek that the person featured in the post was a 15-year-old girl, residing in the Tomball area, who had been reported as a runaway on July 22, 2024. Their disappearance was investigated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office Missing Person Runaway Unit.
Gilliland said the teen was “recovered” on August 8 and returned home by investigators. Gilliland confirmed that the Facebook posts included photos uploaded by a family member “several months back” but that the name was spelled differently.
No arrests were made following her disappearance and she did not require any medical evaluation after she was found.
Gilliland confirmed the Facebook post that mentioned Tomball was not a Harris County Sheriff’s Office TRAK flyer used to alert the public of a runaway or missing child.
Missing children scams
While genuine missing children’s reports are posted on official websites and social media posts for police departments or other safeguarding authorities, it hasn’t stopped the proliferation of scam posts on social media.
Last year the U.K. fact-checking charity Full Fact said that Facebook groups had become “overwhelmed” with fake posts about missing children. Like the posts about Thompson, these fake alerts had been seen on second-hand marketplace community groups.
The charity said the hoax posts were part of a “worldwide phenomenon” of inundating groups with “highly emotive and entirely false stories”, including stories about missing children.
Full Fact noted that in many cases once a hoax post has generated engagement, the author will use Facebook’s editing function to change it to something different, such as an advert. It gave one example of a hoax post from 2023 about a missing teen called ‘Sofia’ which was edited, replacing photos and text with a competition invite.
Last month, in Lincoln, Nebraska, police stepped in following reports of a post describing a young boy, diagnosed with autism as missing.
As reported by 3NewsNow, the Lincoln Police Department said there had been no record of such a child.
“Usually legitimate missing persons posts are not going to originate from a Buy Sell Trade group on Facebook,” Lincoln Police Department PIO Manager Erykah Thomas told 3NewsNow.
“Also, if they have the comments turned off, and there’s not a way for people to interact with that post and ask more questions about this ‘missing person.'”
Internet sleuths have warned against scam Facebook posts linked to a “Gracie Mae Thompson.” Links attached to posts could contain malware, experts have suggested.
