Beware of posts on Facebook that claim a tiny urn containing the remains of Zachary Levi Bowers was found in a parking lot. It is a calculated scam designed to tug at heartstrings and generate widespread shares.
Over the past few days, the exact image has been shared by scammers mentioning different parking lots were the tiny urn was found; Detroit, Plymouth, e.t.c
Here’s an excerpt of what the post says;
PLEASE HELP ME FIND THE OWNER- We found this tiny urn with the name Zachary Levi Bowers with ashes in the parking lot in #Fluvanna
I think it fell out of someones bag or car. Please flood your feeds and pray she finds her way back to her family.
What makes It a Scam?
While the found urn post might seem convincing, here are warning signs that show it’s a full fledged scam;
- No Call to action: Lacks appropriate action on how to help. Legitimate lost and found posts will not just ask you to share the post but provide clear instructions on how to contact the person in possession of the item.
- There have been no major news reports about this case.
- The fake lost urn found posts are not posted on personal Facebook pages but on country sales pages such as Fluvanna Yard Sale, Detroit Sale, e.t.c.
- No Credibility: The Facebook post is posted by anonymous Facebook profiles with few followers. One of such profiles is ‘Brandie Hughes’ , only posts click-bait missing person, lost and found posts which are untrue.
Who is Zachary Levi Bowers?
Zachary Levi Bowers was a real person from Springfield, Missouri. He was born on September 26, 1981, and died on September 18, 2019, few days before his 38th birthday. His corpse was cremated by Midwest Cremation & Funeral Services, LLC, in Springfield, Missouri. Details of the funeral service is available on midwestfuneralservices.com.
The Goal of the Zachary Levi Bowers Ashes Found Facebook Scam Scam – How It Works
The Zachary Levi Bowers Ashes Found scam is a like-farming scam. Like-farming, aka like-harvesting, is a method used by scammers to raise the popularity of a site or social media page. The goal is to make the post go viral by accumulating as many likes and shares as possible from all over the world.
Once the scammers have piled up thousands of likes and shares, they may strip the page and promote something else, such as products that they will receive commissions for selling. The Zachary Levis Bowers ashes post is also shared on websites that have click-bait adware.
Adware (or advertising software) is the term used for various pop-up advertisements that show up on your computer or mobile device. Adware has the potential to become malicious and harm your device by slowing it down, hijacking your browser and installing viruses and/or spyware.
Precaution
Before you like or share a post, check it out, do a bit of research.
Resolve to question everything you are shown on social media; stop and think – is your like or share funding a scammer?
See similar scam – Gracie Mae Thompson Missing Girl Scam
Nora