Did social-media posts share the true story of a 32-year-old man named Kyle Thomas, for whom "a silver alert" was issued after he reportedly "went missing" in Omaha, Nebraska? No, that's not true: As of this writing, Nebraska had not issued a missing-persons alert for a person named Kyle Thomas. The posts about "Kyle Thomas" are part of a scam technique to trick people into sharing a post that will later be changed to an ad so that readers will be tempted to give up their personal information. And state agencies typically issue silver alerts for missing elderly persons.
A version of the claim originated in a post shared on Facebook on September 13, 2024, (archived here). The post's caption read:
HELP FIND HIM - 32-year-old Kyle Thomas went missing yesterday morning here in #omaha
His truck was found last night with his dog inside but unfortunately, there is still no sign of him. He is 5'9" and 165 lbs.
A silver alert has been issued for Kyle who is considered to possibly be in EXTREME danger and in need of medical assistance . We are asking for the community's help. ONLY TAKES 2 SECONDS to share...
This is how the post appeared in its original form:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Mon Sept 16 11:22:52 2024 UTC)
The above post is what is known as a bait-and-switch scheme, many of which Lead Stories has previously debunked. In a bait-and-switch, scammers share eye-catching posts, typically on local Facebook "yard sale" pages and groups.
At the time of this writing, the above post had been "flipped" to a real-estate scam, according to the post's "Edit History" on Facebook. Users can see a post's Edit History by clicking the three dots in its upper righthand corner of a post.
As is shown in the screenshot below, the original "missing" post was first published on September 12, 2024. The following day, its media content and location had been changed:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Mon Sept 16 17:55:32 2024 UTC)
No record of "Kyle Thomas" in Nebraska missing persons databases as of September 16, 2024
The post that is the target of this fact check appeared in a Facebook group titled "Omaha Nebraska Marketplace." In its About section, the group names Omaha, Nebraska, as its location.
A Silver Alert is an emergency advisory issued by some states, such as California (archived here) and Florida (archived here), typically when a person who is 60 years old or above and with some form of mental impairment goes missing. Exact requirements can vary depending on location, but, as a supposed 32-year-old with no stated mental issues, the man identified as "Kyle Thomas" would not qualify.
Nebraska uses an Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA) instead of a Silver Alert, defined (archived here) by the Nebraska State Patrol as a partnership between numerous law enforcement agencies around the state that can provide information to the public that may help locate a vulnerable missing person. As of this writing, there is no active EMA (archived here) in Nebraska for a man named Kyle Thomas, and a search through the state's missing-persons database did not return a relevant result.
A Google News search (archived here) returned no credible reports about a missing man named Kyle Thomas.
Duplicative posts on Facebook indicate bait-and-switch scam
There are key indications that the post is a bait-and-switch scam. Though the identity of the man in the photo could not be verified, a Facebook keyword search returned dozens of identical posts hashtagging various supposed locations, including Alliance, Ohio; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia in Canada; and "Mercer and Boyle County," among others. Screenshots of some of the results from various locations can be seen below:
(Source: Lead Stories compilation of Facebook screenshots taken Mon Sept 16 18:24:02 2024 UTC)
Identifying a bait-and-switch scam
In a bait-and-switch scheme, social-media users post eye-grabbing content to get other users to share a post with their followers. After the post is shared, the scammer changes the original post to a deceptive ad, often for home rentals, warns the Better Business Bureau (BBB) (archived here). The BBB, a nonprofit business watchdog, adds:
This scheme has many variations, but the commonality is the emotionality or urgency of the message that encourages concerned people to share the news with their friends ...
These posts are shared in local buy-and-sell groups because there is already a sense of community and trust within these crowds, and people may not realize that scammers are targeting members. Scammers sometimes also turn comments off on the posts so other group members can't oust them.
Once a post has shares and engagement, the scammer will flip the post -- that is, update the post to be about something completely different, usually a house or apartment for rent.
As Lead Stories previously reported, bait-and-switch posts commonly use links that lead to landing pages with disclaimers or false promises and requests for contact information that can be used to gather personal data, including financial information.
Preventing bait-and-switch schemes
Many of these scam posts will have the comments turned off and will hashtag various cities or locations. For example, the post about the "missing" 32-year-old Kyle Thomas does not contain a call to action, contact information for area law enforcement or the family of the missing person, or any other information that tells users what to do next if that person is found.
The BBB also offers the following tips (archived here) to avoid being scammed by a bait-and-switch Facebook ad:
Do a bit of digging before resharing a post on your profile. Read the information carefully and look at the profile of the person who created and shared the original post. If the profile is from Florida but shared the post in a Canadian group, it may be a red flag of a bait-and-switch publication.
Find out when the poster created the Facebook profile.Scammers always create profiles when their old one gets banned. If you click on their profile, it will tell you how long they have been a member of the group. You can also find additional information on their public profile.
You should see it in the news. If a child goes missing or a tragedy occurs, you'll most likely see it on different news outlets or shared by law enforcement, not on a random post.Do a reverse image search on Google. That will allow you to find out if the pictures you saw were used on other ads or websites in different cities.
Find similar posts. Copy and paste the text from the post into Facebook's search tool to see if other posts with the same text and different pictures show up.
If you suspect a post is a scam, report it to Facebook.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks about bait-and-switch scams can be read here.
