Are social media posts about a 3-year-old girl named Mila, who supposedly went missing and was saved by "Deputy Sara Thomas" in several locations simultaneously, authentic? No, that's not true: This is a common bait-and-switch scam in which social media users post heart-tugging stories they later edit to display supposed real estate offerings. The same post often circulates under the names of many different towns. In this instance, the posts claimed that Mila was found in Baytown, Texas; Waukegan, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota; St. Louis, and Anderson County, unspecified state.
A version of the claim appeared in a post (archived here) in the Facebook group Anderson County Fb Yard Sale on September 6, 2024. Above an image of a young blonde girl, a scar on her face from eye to chin, sleeping with a blue pacifier, the caption said:
This 3 year old baby girl, Mila, was found last night walking behind a home here in #andersoncountyDeputy Sara Thomas saved her and took her to the Police Station but no one has an idea where she lives, the neighbours don't know her or how she got there. She says her mom's name is Abigail.Let's flood our feeds so that this post may reach her family, thank you
Lead Stories has concealed the baby's face since she is a minor. This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Sep 10 18:00:18 2024 UTC)
The origin of the image could not be located.
Lead Stories found an example of the baby Mila post (archived here) in the Facebook group "Baytown, Texas & Surrounding Areas Beg, Barter, Buy & Sell" on September 6, 2024, after it had been switched to a rent-to-own advertisement. It said:
Hey guys: My Grandparents are Urgently looking for a family that can occupy their Vacant Home this month before they move to their Retirement Home .The house has a garden and it is pet friendly for only $650 per month RENT TO OWN! 3-bedrooms, 2-bathroom , 1520sqft. Ready for move in anytime this month. Thank youFor more information kindly visit:
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Sep 10 19:10:51 2024 UTC)
The edit history of the post reveals it previously showed the "baby Mila" story, claiming she was found in Baytown, Texas. In the upper right corner of a Facebook post are three dots that will open a menu for "View edit history." The edit history will open as a pop-up window (pictured below) that shows if the post has changed and when.
This is the edit history of the post:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Sep 10 19:11:02 2024 UTC)
The distinctive wording of the post is identical; only the location is changed. Lead Stories found more examples of the post claiming she was found in Waukegan, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Louis before all those posts were switched to the real estate ad.
Lead Stories did not find credible evidence of a baby being saved by deputy Sara Thomas in a Google search (archived here). A reverse image search with Google Lens (archived here) also did not offer credible evidence confirming the lost baby story.
Real estate scam postings
Real estate scam posts are a tactic used on Facebook by spammers that employ "bait and switch" content to lure people. A post's creator will pair an alarming or heart-wrenching claim with a compelling image to catch people's attention -- missing children or aging adults, injured animals, injured people in hospital beds and sex trafficking tactics -- and drive engagement.
Once a post has garnered sufficient attention, the content switches to push a deceptive real estate ad. The wording and images of these eye-catching posts, typically seen on local Facebook "yard sale" pages," are frequently identical, even when the offered property is located in different cities, regions of the U.S. or countries.
The content switch is clearly documented by a post's edit history, which also notes additions or deletions of content. In some instances time stamps on the posts indicate when the switches were made but on some posts, timestamps don't change even though the content does.
Commonly, such posts use links that lead to landing pages with disclaimers or false promises and contact information requests that can be used to gather personal data, including financial information, from people who follow the trails.
Some links purport to connect people to a U.S. Housing and Urban Development site to help them search for deals on foreclosed homes. Lead Stories found the links lead to new sites that carry disclosures at the bottom of the page that note they are "not affiliated with, endorsed, authorized, or approved by the Federal Government or the US Department of Housing and Urban Development."
Additional Lead Stories fact checks about bait-and-switch scams can be found here.
