Is a social media post about a missing child named 'Chloe' current? No, that's not true: The girl pictured in the post was missing but was safely found as of June 18, 2024. Social media posts share the information about the missing child and then switch to a real estate scam. The false narrative is part of a scam that inspires concerned people to share a post, which will then be edited to have a different message.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook on June 25, 2024. It began:
**URGENT: Missing Child Alert**Wilmington
It has now been 32 hours since Chloe was last seen. Unfortunately, there is still no sign of her. We are asking for the community's help.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Jun 27 20:29:50 2024 UTC)
This bait-and-switch ruse, with a variety of narratives, is common on Facebook. In this case, a young woman named Chloe Grady did go missing in Rowan County, North Carolina, in mid-June 2024 but was found safe two days later, according to the Rowan County Sheriff's Department Facebook page. Lead Stories found this out by searching her name in Facebook, as shown here.
The comments on the post were turned off to prevent people from warning the unsuspecting that the post is fake, as the missing child case was already resolved. After the post receives many shares, it switches to another post, in this case a post about a real estate deal claiming to be in Augusta -- presumably Augusta, Georgia, in a different state that the original missing person case.
The edit history of the post, found by opening the three dots at the upper right corner of the post, shows that the real estate post was originally a post about the missing child:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Jun 27 20:31:16 2024 UTC)
A reverse image search on Google Lens of the real estate in the updated post matches a house for sale on Zillow in San Antonio, Texas (archived here), not Augusta. The text of the too-good-to-be-true ad reads:
Available: [LEASE TO OWN]Price: 500 / Month3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,490 SqFtApply here : https://renthomeclub.godaddysites.comWe are looking for a family can rent to own this single family home. Has 3 Bed | 2 Bath I 1,490 SqFt.Newly renovated, ready to move in. Stainless steel appliances, newer floors, updated bathrooms and kitchen.No hidden Fees!. Downpayment !Section 8 is accepted too!
The listing on Zillow shows the home for sale for $260,000, not for rent for $500 a month. The link on the Facebook post does not go to a legitimate listing for the home but is a deceptive way to get people to click on the link https://renthomeclub.godaddysites.com (archived here). This link does not connect the user to the advertised home, but a paid subscription service "club" collecting personal information promising to help find similar homes in your area. More details about how this, and other, rent-to-own scams may operate are featured in a realtor's blog post (archived here) entitled, "I Fell For An Online Rent-To-Own Scam (So You Don't Have To)."
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on a variety of narratives that have been used in bait-and-switch scams can be found here.
