Tag Archives: appeal

Hoax posts claiming that a cocker spaniel has been found by the side of the road have been shared thousands of times in community Facebook groups across the UK. 

We have seen versions of the posts in groups based in Brixham (Devon), Shrewsbury (Shropshire), Lancaster (Lancashire), Kettering (Northamptonshire), Stockport (Greater Manchester), Eastbourne (East Sussex), Warrington (Cheshire) and Harrogate (North Yorkshire). 

Together, these posts have been shared more than 16,000 times. 

The posts all use near-identical wording, which says: “Hello, it’s been 2 weeks and I haven’t found the owner of this sweet cocker spaniel we picked up on the road in [location]

“She’s really depressed and she’s not eating. We took her to the vet she’s not chipped. Please bump…

A hoax appeal shared on Facebook claims that a four-year-old child called Jack Graham, pictured in the post with a fawn, has gone missing and is believed to be in need of medical attention. 

Full Fact has spotted versions of these posts in social media groups in the UK, including in Leeds and Falkirk, as well as many examples in the US and Canada. 

The posts all feature very similar text, which says in most of the versions we’ve seen: “Jack Graham is a 4 year old  who stands 3 feet, 5 inches and weighs 55 pounds. Graham has been missing since June 04, 2023 and is believed to be both endangered and in need of medical attention. 

“Graham was last seen in #[location]. Bump this post so that he can be reunited with his family. [sic]”

But the boy pictured in the…

A post on Facebook, shared more than 500 times, falsely claims to be from a man named “John Ederson” from Warrington who is looking for his birth parents. 

The post, which was shared to a Warrington “buy and sell” group says: “Hello my name is john Ederson. I was born here  in warrington February 24 in 1979 looking for my birth mother or father. 

“My father’s name is Jonathan M Ederson and my mother’s name Gazelle S Ederson she was only 17 at time of my birth. My father used to be a mechanic and my mother used to work at a supermarket. That’s all info I have. Please bump this post and help me reunite with my family[sic].” 

This is not a real appeal. Besides the fact that the name of the profile that posted the appeal is not “John Ederson”, both…

A Facebook post shared to a buy and sell Facebook group called “Aber swap shop” claiming an autistic boy called Brandon has gone missing with his family dog uses images taken in 2019, which we previously wrote about after they were used in a nearly-identical set of hoax posts.

The post says: “HELP!!!  #aber MS My son Brandon Smith took off this morning with our dog hank. He is autistic and has been missing for eight hours if anyone sees him please PM me please re-post on any sites.I already contacted police. [sic]”

As we’ve previously explained, the pictures used in the posts have been circulating online since 2019, and reportedly show a boy in the US being reunited with his dog, Piper, which had been found after going missing for over a fortnight. 

They…