‘Gracie Mae Thompson’ Missing Child Posts Linked to Facebook Scam

A viral post about a missing 15-year-old Texas girl called “Gracie Mae Thompson” has been flagged as a potential hoax by internet sleuths.

Earlier this month, posts began appearing on Facebook claiming Thompson had been missing since July 22, 2024.

One post seen by Newsweek said “My daughter has been missing since July 22nd! 16 days🥹 It only took two seconds to share!

“#LakeWorth Name: Graci Mae Thompson. Age: 15 Height: 5’2 Weight: 103 Hair Color: Originally strawberry blonde but recently dyed black She was last seen wearing black shorts and a black shirt.”

Variations of the post are reportedly named Graci or Gracie and include the names of several locations in the US and internationally.

Although not all posts about Thompson include external links or other calls to action other than prompts to share the post, others and users are beginning to report that scammers can use this to deliver malware.

However, as Newsweek found, information from a missing person investigation was used to create what was believed to be a scam.

What happened?

Posts about Thompson began appearing on August 8, 2024, in several community groups on Facebook, often in swap shops or local market communities on social websites.

Each featured photos of girls with braces and wavy blonde hair. A reverse image search on the photo does not reveal where the image is from or who it is from.

Other Police Departments have since flagged some posts about Thompson as fraud. The Colorado Parachute Police Department published a Facebook post on Aug. 10, with a screengrab of Thompson’s photo and the headline “BEWARE OF SCAMS!”

“A real missing person submission will contain specific information about the subject, including the subject, including their last known location,” he said.

“Always verify the information on the Department’s website/social media if it is not valid.”

As reported by the ScamFinder blog, other posts have since appeared indicating that Thompson has been found, featuring a link to a new website with information about his reappearance. Scamfinder followed several links related to social posts about Thompson, which it said directed browsers to remove VPNs and ad-blocking software.

Several posts about Thompson’s safe return stated he was from Tomball, Texas. Newsweek contact Texas police authorities to see if there are any details relevant to a historical or ongoing investigation.

Is there a real investigation?

Senior Deputy Thomas M Gilliland of the Harris County Sherriff’s Office told Newsweek that the person featured in the post is a 15-year-old girl, living in the Tomball area, who was reported as a runaway on July 22, 2024. Her disappearance is being investigated by the Harris County Sheriff’s Missing Person Runaway Unit.

Gilliland said the teenager “recovered” on Aug. 8 and was returned home by investigators. Gilliland confirmed that the Facebook post included a photo uploaded by a family member “several months ago” but that the name was spelled differently.

No arrests were made following her disappearance and she did not require a medical evaluation after being found.

Gilliland confirmed a Facebook post mentioning Tomball is not a Harris County Sheriff’s Office TRAK flyer used to alert the public to runaway or missing children.

Lost child fraud

While genuine missing children reports are posted on official websites and social media posts for police departments or other custodial authorities, it does not stop the spread of scam posts on social media.

Last year, UK fact-checking agency Full Fact said Facebook groups had been “overwhelmed” by fake posts about missing children. As with the post about Thompson, this fake sign has appeared in a second hand market community group.

The charity said the hoax posts were part of a “worldwide phenomenon” of groups flooding with “emotional and completely false stories”, including stories about missing children.

Full Fact notes that in many cases when a hoax post has created engagement, the author will use Facebook’s editing function to change it to something different, such as an advertisement. It gives an example of a hoax post from 2023 about a missing teenager called ‘Sofia’ that was edited, replacing the photo and text with a competition invitation.

Last month, in Lincoln, Nebraska, police responded to reports of a post depicting a teenager, diagnosed with autism, missing.

As reported by 3NewsNow, the Lincoln Police Department said there is no record of the child.

“Normally a legitimate missing person post will not come from a Buy Sell Trade group on Facebook,” Lincoln Police Department PIO Manager Erykah Thomas told 3NewsNow.

“Also, if the comments are turned off, and there is no way for people to interact with the post and ask more questions about this ‘missing person’.”