The fake posts using Posch's likeness continue to spread despite attempts to quell the misinformation, prompting concern and frustration. — AP
Social media posts featuring photos of Pennsylvania man Brian Posch are circulating online, claiming that the father and husband is currently missing, sometimes calling him by different names. But Posch died months earlier.
"HELP FIND HIM," the widely copy-and-pasted post reads, claiming he went missing this week in different areas of the country, including false details, and at one point calling Posch by a different name. "A silver alert has been issued for Keith," the same post said.
The same text is used in posts across Facebook, simply swapping out the neighbourhood from which he went missing to correlate to the location of the Facebook group that generated the post.
Posts urging people to keep an eye out for Posch were found in regions of Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, and Kentucky.
Posch was found dead in April, his truck submerged in a river, days after he was reported missing to the Brighton Township Police Department in Beaver County. CBS News Pittsburgh reported at the time that police said details surrounding his death were unclear.
The fake posts using Posch's likeness continue to spread despite attempts to quell the misinformation, prompting concern and frustration.
"If you see a post saying that Brian Posch is missing, do not share! Instead, report the post to the group administrators. It is a scam," a Facebook post attempting to set the record straight said. "I feel so awful for his family who has to see this scam being posted over and over again. These scammers are sick."
Scams like this aren't new.
Fake posts about missing people and faux deaths – often using real but unrelated photos – are a common occurrence online. Experts say the goal is to get heavy engagement and posts trending online as part of a larger plan to steal users' private information.
In his obituary, Posch was remembered as a foreman for Steamfitters Local 449, and father to a one-year-old girl. His wife could not be reached for comment for this story. – The Philadelphia Inquirer/Tribune News Service
