Hundreds share hoax Facebook appeal for missing man called George

Hundreds of people have shared hoax appeals searching for a missing man with dementia named ‘George’ across the UK. 

Full Fact has seen examples searching for ‘George Smith’ shared in Yeovil and Nailsea in Somerset, Long Eaton in Derbyshire and Inverclyde, Scotland. The same images and text have also been used in hoax posts claiming to search for ‘George Wayne’ in Winchester (Hampshire), High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) and again in both Long Eaton and Inverclyde. Together, these posts have been shared more than 1,800 times. 

The posts all use near-identical text, which says: “FLOOD YOUR FEEDS ~ MISSING!! in[location]. 

“Our Dad, George Smith aged 74 drove out last night in his Toyota Hilux truck and he still hasn’t returned. He doesn’t know where…