Am I being too cynical?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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?

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

I would doubt the sincerity of such posts.

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

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.

What is Spotted ?