Am I being too cynical?

What is Spotted ?

It's a series of local FB groups, I think, Lucca

www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/whats-like-run-facebook-group-55509

I'd ignore pleas like that, kittylester.

I do mostly but lots of people treat them as genuine - hence my question.

The ‘Spotted’ for this area only had one post, in 2013, so no,

I would doubt the sincerity of such posts.

No, you're not being cynical.

If I knew someone in RL who needed help like that and I could then I would.
But what I picked up from the article was that people use pseudonyms. Our local FB group contributors seem to use their own names, many of which are recognisable.
If I have a rant about our local councillor should I adopt a pseudonym?

Our village one has recognisable people and I help where I can but I belong to the one for the closest town one too. Ours are both very lively as are the ones for the surrounding villages. They are really useful for local events etc.

I have seen some post like this to and always ignore them. Our local councillors are very active of FB they will sometimes put out a plea for things , which if I am able to help with I do as I know it is via a reliable third party.

I keep getting e-mails from people purporting to be African school-teachers whose pupils need books and pencils!

These might well be genuine cases of need, but does anyone seriously believe we would send money off into the blue in response to an e-mail?

So no, if you are being cynical, then so am I.

Everybody knows everybody where I live, and the local community Facebook page is very active, so if somebody tried it on they would be jumped on and publicly exposed I think.

I ve been on FB years and years and never heard of Spotted?
We have local FB groups and we have a helping hands group that run services for those fallen on hard times asking for certain food or baby items and then distributing them
I wouldn’t give to an Anonymous person as they are probably just sold on

No you are not being cynical. If donating best to give things to a local charity then they can give them out. There are lots of posts on FB from people (usually abroad but not always) so and so's child has inoperable cancer and no money to treat it followed by a sob story then a suspicious donating link and lots of responders leave posts on the site commiserating. I always report them when I see them. I don't think people realise the information that is gained when you post an innocuous reply to such sites. That info is stored and added to other info you may have unknowingly put there and then at a later date can be used by scammers.

Not cynical, if there's a rash of these posts suddenly appearing, I'm with you, its probably a scam.

My daughter has a high-maintenance dog, and is a member of various groups of owners of the breed. She says there are regular posts from people asking for crowdfunding to pay for operations because the owners didn’t insure their pets. She used to get really upset that the thought of the dogs having to be put to sleep for want of vet fees, but has toughened up now she has seen how often the appeals come in.

Never heard of Spotted. Never seen post like that. Would ignore them if I did.

We have a couple of groups within our area who help people out with emergency stuff in cases of floods/fires/domestic violence etc and if anyone posts an individual plea for help on behalf on anyone, they are swiftly directed to the volunteer groups. The volunteer groups put out requests for stuff they like to keep stored in readiness, such as fridges, kettles, washing machines etc., so everyone knows that (a) their unwanted items are going where they are welcomed rather than landfill and (b) the claims are genuine. The main group here popped up during lockdown when people were unable to get help from the usual agencies and were also unable to shop for second hand items.

I have seen a few of these in local (Devon) Spotted FB pages, and they have been met with alot of kind and heartfelt responses, offering various items, food etc. I am extremely cynical in my view of these posts, having responded to one thinking it was genuine, but I don't believe it was, I obviously didn't have what she was looking for. Felt a little foolish after the experience, as there are so many people out there who could benefit from a little kindness.

Ignore ignore ignore!!!!

Doodledog with regard to the FB posts about dogs with a terrible illness and asking for crowdfunding, I'm on a fb page where there are a couple of people doing that. One sets up several crowd funding pages, linking each one to a different post, and posts on several pages (and covering at least a couple of breeds - that's just from my fairly minor use I've seen). She raised about £20K in that way last year, from the few posts I saw, but when I reported her post, I was the one getting abuse, because that 'poor woman, trying so hard' etc. The condition required about a £5,000 spend (although it's something routinely done for about £800, which is what made me wonder at the start). Recently, it's started up again with another dog - the first one died. Apparently.

I am suspicious of some of these requests too, having knowledge of some people who post. A local second hand dealer has been known to post asking for help for someone else, but is then seen advertising items he collects for these fictitious people. About 6 years ago a single parent work colleague was flooded out of her home, and lost everything, (and was out of her property 10 months). As many were in 'the same boat' the council opened the town hall for donations and her own cousin went to the council with a list using her name. She was NOT a flood victim, and was trying it on, but fortunately she was caught out, and police were involved.

I do remember seeing one heartrending post of a lady wanting toys and Christmas stuff for her 3 children.
Turned out she would only accept brand new items and was selling what people donated at a carboot sale.
Must admit it put a lot of people off donating to anyone else, me included.

WonderBra

Doodledog with regard to the FB posts about dogs with a terrible illness and asking for crowdfunding, I'm on a fb page where there are a couple of people doing that. One sets up several crowd funding pages, linking each one to a different post, and posts on several pages (and covering at least a couple of breeds - that's just from my fairly minor use I've seen). She raised about £20K in that way last year, from the few posts I saw, but when I reported her post, I was the one getting abuse, because that 'poor woman, trying so hard' etc. The condition required about a £5,000 spend (although it's something routinely done for about £800, which is what made me wonder at the start). Recently, it's started up again with another dog - the first one died. Apparently.

Yes, I am extremely cynical too. My daughter is less so (with the innocence of youth ), but even she is getting hardened to it. It's such a captive audience, as everyone in the group is a lover of the breed, and the scammers show cute puppy pictures that go straight to the heart of dog lovers.

It's always Crowdfunding, too, where people can contribute smallish amounts. If they were genuine, why not set up an account with a vet, to prove that the money was going directly to fund the operation?

Also, the dogs are expensive, and notorious for having problems. Why would someone pay a lot of money if they can't afford even basic pet insurance? It doesn't add up, to me.

Yes its happening all over. I ignore most of it. Although if I have something I don't need anymore I'd be inclined to offer it rather than take it to be destroyed.
I do feel that sometimes the way it's worded doesn't help.

I get many begging letters in my spam - many of them in German (I have no Germanic connection), or from Africa. I understand these are not gender dependent - but the ones that offer me (definitely female) a penis extension.....??

I think you should only give to those who are reliable, we have a foodbank donation in our local store and that is ok because we all know where the goods are going to and roughly the area of distribution. Other pleas are few and far between on the local page so we all know that they are genuine. I don't get spam.