I almost shared a fake story about a stolen military dog

Last Thursday, I was scrolling through my feed and saw this super emotional post about a retired K9 unit dog being stolen from a veteran's yard in Ohio. The story had all the right details, a blurry photo, and a plea to share. My finger was literally hovering over the share button. Something about the wording felt off, like a movie script. I did a reverse image search on the dog's picture and found it was a stock photo from 2019. The whole thing was a scam to get clicks and donations. I reported the page instead. Has anyone else caught themselves right before spreading something that felt too perfect?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_barnes2412d ago

That "movie script" feeling is a huge red flag. What was it about the wording that tipped you off first?

ryant5012d ago

Honestly sean_barnes24, I get what you mean but is it always that deep? Sometimes people just phrase things in a clunky way. Like the overuse of "little did they know" or describing every single action. Feels more like bad writing than a sure sign of a scam to me.

the_alice12d ago

Yeah, the "little did they know" thing is a dead giveaway. It's like sean_barnes24 said, it feels like they're trying to narrate a story at you instead of just talking like a person. That forced drama is so weird.