WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Victorian residents are being warned about murder suspects on the run.
OUR VERDICT
False. The warning is part of a common scam.
AAP FACTCHECK - A Victorian town's residents are being warned about a couple accused of bashing a baby to death, but it's a social media hoax.
The fake crime warning is one of thousands designed to boost engagement, and when they receive enough likes and shares, they're edited to feature a scam.
A Facebook post in the Emerald, Gembrook and Ferntree Gully community group warns about a supposed pair of accused criminals on the run in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges.
"HOMICIDE SUSPECTS ON THE RUN in Emerald," the caption says.
"A 18-year-old mother and her 22-year-old boyfriend have been identified by the Homicide Bureau as suspects responsible for the death of 8-month-old Marquel Smith.
"The baby's death accured (sic) on 1 March, 2025 ,baby Smith was a victim of blunt force trauma.
"Tyler Chapman and Shaila Bradshaw, have both been charged with murder and are still at large.
"Anyone who knows the whereabouts of these suspects is asked to call the Police. LETS BUMP THIS POST TO HELP LOCATE THEM."
However, the images do not show "Tyler Chapman" and "Shaila Bradshaw".
Using a reverse image search, AAP FactCheck confirmed that the pair are actually Gregg Scholze and Kayla Naper, according to Illinois radio station 97X.
The pair were jailed for their involvement in a 2017 shooting in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The call at the end of the message to "bump this post and alert others" is key to the scam.
Once the posts have been shared with a certain number of users, they are then edited to show real estate advertisements that prompt users to click on suspicious links.
AAP FactCheck has previously exposed similar scam posts in community Facebook groups or pages.
Scammers are creating thousands of Facebook posts like this one, encouraging people to share them and/or click nefarious links.
That means you may be scammed or tricked into advertising a scam to your family and friends on Facebook without realising it.
That's why it's vital to know how to spot a potential scam post.
HOW TO SPOT A SCAM POST ON FACEBOOK - THE RED FLAGS
Treat posts appealing for help to find lost or found people or pets, offering extremely cheap or free products and services with caution if they include more than one of the following features:
* The person encourages everyone to share their post widely.
* They don't provide their contact details or they ask people to send them a DM or PM (direct message or private message).
* The post includes only very vague details about the location of the person or pet, or the giveaway.
* If the account of the person posting is less than a year old, has no profile picture, has very few friends, or isn't located in the same area as the subject of their post. This indicates their account is fake.
* If you can't comment on the post because the person has disabled comments. This is done to stop people from warning others that it's a scam.
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