Police warning after scammers post fake story about kidnap

SCAMMERS have posted fake news about a girl being abducted in Cheltenham to lure people into sharing their social media passwords.

The ploy has been infiltrating Facebook pages in Gloucestershire, with people sharing a post with a link to a video of the alleged kidnap.

Gloucestershire Police has shared a warning today confirming that the claims are fake news and are in fact a phishing scam.

The con artists even used the force’s crest and made the post look like a legitimate news story.

A police spokesperson said: “Today we were made aware of a link circulating on social media which claimed that a 10-year old girl named Majka was abducted in Cheltenham on Sunday, November 8.

“We can confirm that we have not received any reports of this kind and that the link, which was designed to look like a news story and contained our Constabulary crest, is a phishing attempt which asks Facebook users to log in to see a video of the alleged kidnap.”

Police said the post is “targeting those living in Gloucestershire” and tricks people into typing in their log-in credentials.

The spokesperson added: “The fraudsters are able to access the user’s account and post the suspicious link on their Facebook page and in any groups they are a part of, in an attempt to capture more people’s passwords and take over their accounts.”

Police shared four top tips for people to avoid being tricked into scams like this:

Avoid opening any links or attachments that look suspicious

If a link asks for your password or personal or financial information, close it down and do not hand this information over

Make sure passwords are long, strong and unique so if one account is compromised, others are safe - a password manager can help you create and store your passwords safely

Turn on two-factor authentication to add an extra layer of security to your account

It is not clear how widely the post was circulated before police were alerted, nor how many accounts were compromised.