Beware of false reports!

Don't believe everything you read on the internet!

The police are speaking from our hearts with this content!
In the last few days we have been increasingly asked about reports on the Internet, which are mainly spread as chain letters on social networks and messenger services such as WhatsApp. The claims made therein are usually false and can be assigned to the hoax category. Unfortunately, such false reports in a wide variety of variations occur again and again and they are often simply spread without checking the truth and without thinking about the possible consequences.
There are made-up stories about cat catchers , laundry baskets used to mark burglaries, knockout drops on business cards , white delivery vans , animal cruelty, horror scenarios, etc.
It is not uncommon for a false report to make the rounds again after many years and to cause a stir again.
There is a function on Facebook that automatically presents certain of your own posts again after several years (“Your memories on Facebook” e.g. 4 years ago). Such a false report can quickly be spread again carelessly. [ml_ad]
It becomes problematic when such reports are shared by respected people or institutions, among others. volunteer fire department shared , giving it an official character.

[vc_message message_box_color=”grey” icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-info”]So don’t believe everything you read on the internet, chat, messenger, etc.! Do not share such messages without checking! Consider the consequences for the recipients![/mk_info]

What can happen?

Again and again, frightened or angry people come to the police and file a report based on such false reports from the Internet.
This will also result in corresponding costs if further investigations are carried out. Recipients of such messages are likely to be unsettled and to become afraid or panic when they find such situations (e.g. laundry baskets in front of their own home).
Children in particular can quickly become frightened here. The dissemination ensures that the false report circulates on the Internet for several years or reappears in slight variations.
False reports, e.g. B. Affect a company's product, can also cause financial and image damage to that company.

where can I inform myself?

Theoretically, any search engine on the Internet can be helpful here.
This means you can quickly find posts from other users who have found something similar using the right keywords. However, there is always the risk that further misjudgments may be made. It is safer to visit sites that reveal the truth behind such false reports. For example, the following pages have existed for many years: www.mimikama.org / hoax-info.tubit.tu-berlin.de/hoax/ . Here you will usually find the known false reports with corresponding explanations.

What else can you do?

For example, have you had an acquaintance For example, if you discover an obvious hoax as a Facebook post, inform that person about the danger and ask them to delete the post to prevent further damage.

The problem of chain letters and false reports should also be an issue within the family and within the school. The police's tips on this:

• Talk to your children at home and at school about this phenomenon.
• Have the message deleted to prevent further distribution.
• The child should understand that there will be no negative consequences if the message is not spread. Sending the message for fun, fear or other reasons will only unsettle other recipients.
• A note in the status message of the messenger service, such as: B. “No chain letters please!” can also help.
• Recipients of chain letters should speak to the senders about this and explain the issue.
• The children should, among other things, tell their friends that they do not want to receive these nasty joke messages.

Source: Lower Saxony Police