PITTSFIELD — The Pittsfield Police Department is urging residents to exercise caution before sharing posts about missing persons on social media, following a surge of spam content circulating online.
The department has identified a series of false missing persons alerts originating from the Facebook page “Pittsfield’s Buy, Sell Trade and Free.” The page has been responsible for thousands of shares of erroneous information regarding individuals allegedly missing from Pittsfield, the majority of whom are not actually missing.
Spam accounts have been accused of stealing images from various online sources, including pictures of individuals who may have been reported missing in the past by other agencies but have since been found.
In one instance, a post falsely claimed that NYPD Officer Johnathan Diller was missing.
However, Officer Diller was tragically shot and killed in the line of duty on March 25 while on patrol.
The police are calling for public assistance to prevent the spread of these deceptive posts by reporting them when encountered.
They advise that a quick internet search can often verify the legitimacy of such claims and prevent the propagation of spam and potential scams.
Pittsfield Police Department is committed to ensuring the integrity of missing persons reports and protecting the community from misinformation.
They remind everyone to verify the authenticity of such posts before sharing them to avoid causing unnecessary alarm or disrespect to those affected by actual missing persons cases.
