Facebook sex assault ‘alert’ is fake

Montreal police have taken to their own Facebook page to alert the public that a Facebook post bearing what appears to be their logo (and that of the City of Montreal) and purporting to warn of a sexual assault scam is false.

The post, which in many cases appears on Facebook feeds in English only, warns female readers not to believe a crying little boy begging to be taken to a certain address because it is a lure that precedes a sexual assault.

Montreal police say their department has issued no such warning, that the contents of the post are false and “no cases of this nature have been reported on the island of Montreal.”

The department’s Facebook page invites users “to be very cautions (sic) and verify the provenance of such a message before broadcasting it to your contacts.”