Falsely accused of crime on FB

[falselyaccused]

I've put this in legal too but posting here for traffic:

I was in a shopping centre on the weekend and had finished my shopping in a popular clothes shop. As I was exiting the store, the alarm sounded and I was asked by a security guard to stand aside and allow him to check my bags which I was happy to comply with. As expected, no stolen items were found in my bag and the security guard actually said the alarm might’ve gone off by mistake, or someone could’ve timed their exit with mine to increase their chances of getting away with theft. I though it was all okay until I got home and decided to check FB later in the day. Imagine my shock to find very clear photos of me having my bags searched by the security guard at the store which someone had taken. They accused me of theft and warned other people to stay away from me if they saw me in the street! The post had a gazillion replies of shock and people lamenting about how the area was going to the dogs, etc. I reported the post and it got taken down but I’ve had people who recognised me in the photos contacting me and asking wtf was going on?!

I’m livid and want to know if I can take legal action against this person for defamation of character/slander? I tried following their profile link but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore or I’ve been blocked from it.

Can anyone help?

So awful. Have they got nothing better to do!! I’m also outraged on your behalf but thankfully it’s gone now. It’s not good that security guards can search (mainly innocent) people in full public view like that. At the very least people should be afforded some privacy away from prying eyes before they’re exonerated.

Really strange that the profile doesn't exist any more. Are you sure?

That means they have gone to the bother of creating an account (fake?) in order to post this... that would mean it's likely it's someone you know rather than a stranger else why would they go to that trouble. Anyone in the area you've had a falling out with that could have coincidentally been there.

If you want to sue, purchase the security camera footage and see who is taking a picture at that moment. Might recognise them.

That's awful op. I agree you should post a message on the same page saying that an untrue statement was made about you.

Is it that you can't find the person on FB anymore? As if you can see them I'd tag them in.

@IAAP

Did you screen shot it or know who did it?

Jealous ex, busybody or a friend?

I'd go to the page moderator and explain the situation and say you want a full public apology (just write it as you did above) and if you don't get one -you will be going to the police as this is your character.

I don't think the police would do anything about something like this though, would they?

@itsgettingwierd

I'm also raging on your behalf.

Similar happened to a friends ds.

He walked past a fast food place on way to his elite sprits training.

A bike was stolen not long after he walked past (he was at the training by then).

All over FB about these "scum" and hope their parents are proud etc.

The poor lad was mortified and his parents were raging too.

He became no 1 nationally a few months later and was really worried this would come out with the other news articles about his acheivement.

That is so shit.

@IAAP

Did you screen shot it or know who did it?

Jealous ex, busybody or a friend?

I'd go to the page moderator and explain the situation and say you want a full public apology (just write it as you did above) and if you don't get one -you will be going to the police as this is your character.

Not a criminal offence, police won't be interested. And you have no right to see cctv footage either.

Perhaps also ask the admins to post something to confirm that the original post was unverified and that they will be reviewing their policy on sharing images without confirmation from an official source.

I'd ask the moderators to post a retraction, warning others about libellous posting.

Contact the admin they will be able to see who posted it originally

I’d also post publicly and say false alarm the store can confirm but does anyone know who posted thr fake news? I couldn’t let it lie myself.

Its shit. Sorry it happened to you, it does sound as if it was somebody with a grudge against you.

In saying that, I once got shamed on fb publically on a local page for letting my dog shit outside somebody's house. Pictures and everything. Except I dont have a dog, wasnt walking a dog but was actually walking slowly holding just started walking toddler dcs hand. There was a wall so all you could see in the picture was from my elbow down. They assumed it was a dog lead I was holding and a dog I was talking too! Absolute idiots........... They did take it down when I corrected them (not very politely).

Police won’t do anything. Someone accused me on social media of being a paedophile, nearly costing me my job. Police said they could only take action if I was ‘vulnerable’

Christ, I work in a supermarket and if someone posted on FB every time one of our door alarms went off then there would be nothing else on my newsfeed! Door alarms can go off for any number of reasons other than theft - the staff genuinely missing a security tag on an item so it didn't get removed, a damaged tag that didn't deactivate properly, a tag that has been reactivated and so goes off, a glitch in the security gate that made it go off randomly etc etc - and I cannot understand why anyone would go out of their way to post a random security alert they happened to see in a shopping centre.

Since it was posted to a public group I would make your own post with the basic facts of what happened - the alarm went off as you left the store, you chatted with security and let them check your bags and they confirmed you had done nothing wrong and you went on your way - and that you have been made aware that someone has taken your picture during the incident and posted libellous rubbish on that group. I would ask for the members help to identify the person who made the post as you are considering taking legal action against them for their blatant lies and for the upset caused. In addition you would like to take the opportunity to remind people that just because someone posts something to a FB group and makes a claim (such as that they are posting photos of a thief) does not make it true and you hope people aren't quite so quick to judge others without the full story in future.

Whether or not you actually plan to take legal action is entirely up to you, but if you make a post where it looks like you are appealing for information to support legal action then youre more likely to get more attention/positive feedback than if you just go and post "I didn't do anything, this person is a liar!" as that can just come across as defensive and disingenuous, even if it is true.

@warmeduppizza

Police won’t do anything. Someone accused me on social media of being a paedophile, nearly costing me my job. Police said they could only take action if I was ‘vulnerable’

Wow that's awful

Contacting the police and civil action are a waste of time.

As irritating as it is most people who read the post will have forgotten about it by now, making a song and dance about it on the Facebook page or elsewhere will just remind them.

I would 100% contact the admins of the page/group and tell them exactly what's happened as you did in your first post here, and ask them to post something along the lines of 'Following a recent post by a member which clearly made a false accusation against another person, as well as clearly identifying who the entirely innocent party was, we will be tightening up our rules over posts. This was a wholly malicious accusation, and has caused significant distress to the accused, who is now taking further advice on how to proceed. As admins, we apologise unreservedly for allowing this post, which was wholly without foundation.'

The admins really should have better moderation over what is posted, there's no excuse for allowing something like that to be posted publicly. I would be absolutely furious if I were you.

An abysmal situation, OP. This is precisely why images of supposed criminals and criminal activity are not allowed on well run FB groups.

You said you have screenshots of the original post? If I were you, I'd let admin of the group see them when you message to ask for a retraction by them.

These screenshots should also let you see the identity of the profile that made the post. If you can't see them, or the post, you may well have been blocked by them. See if any one else can see them. If they can, that will mean you're blocked. If no one can see them they may well have suspended their account when they'd realised what they'd done. Did you comment on their post, or anyone stick up for you?

Lastly, you can request CCTV footage of yourself, which may show others around. If you wanted to go down this route. See www.gov.uk/request-cctv-footage-of-yourself

@MsLizard

I'd post on the local group stating that you're aware that a libellous and completely untrue post was made about you and has since been deleted.

Calmly state that the guard checked and confirmed that you were fine, and you suggest that people in future don't post incorrect and damaging information when they have no idea what they're talking about.

I’d do this too

@warmeduppizza

Police won’t do anything. Someone accused me on social media of being a paedophile, nearly costing me my job. Police said they could only take action if I was ‘vulnerable’

Fucking hell fire! 😳

You might be able to find a lawyer willing to take this on on a no-win n-fee basis, but it may depend on whether the prospective defendant has the means to pay hefty damages - they would have to be hefty to make the lawyer's percentage worth having. But you'll need a screenshot.

How awful for you OP!

I’d be asking/expecting the town page admins to post a retraction and acknowledgment that it was untrue, and that they’ll be reviewing their policies on posting ‘gotcha’ images, as PP have said. I’d then be tempted to follow up myself by commenting on the retraction post along the lines of what @melj1213 suggested regarding identifying the poster.

My uncle was recently posted all over fb for being a ‘dogknapper’. Apparently he was seen driving around our local area in a white van following dog walkers and taking photos of potential victims. He’s actually a roofie and was sat in the work van when the someone walked past with the fattest dog he’d ever seen in his life. He took a photo of it because he thought it was funny, and someone saw him and posted it on fb where it got a few hundred shares and thousands of comments calling him all sorts. As soon as he realised he did what someone said on here and wrote his own post, also added pic of fat dog to prove his point 🙄

If you've got legal cover in your house insurance it can offer cover social media defamation. No idea if it would take in this particular situation but it's just a thought

@Winniemarysarah

My uncle was recently posted all over fb for being a ‘dogknapper’. Apparently he was seen driving around our local area in a white van following dog walkers and taking photos of potential victims. He’s actually a roofie and was sat in the work van when the someone walked past with the fattest dog he’d ever seen in his life. He took a photo of it because he thought it was funny, and someone saw him and posted it on fb where it got a few hundred shares and thousands of comments calling him all sorts. As soon as he realised he did what someone said on here and wrote his own post, also added pic of fat dog to prove his point 🙄

Our local page has something similar - warning of a dodgy guy in a white van outside a house in an affluent area who “became uncomfortable when I started photographing him”

Poor guy came on fo the group to say it was him and he was just outside his house, that’s why he was uncomfortable!

@2Two

You might be able to find a lawyer willing to take this on on a no-win n-fee basis, but it may depend on whether the prospective defendant has the means to pay hefty damages - they would have to be hefty to make the lawyer's percentage worth having. But you'll need a screenshot.

What would the screenshot do? I have a screenshot of the original post.

At the very least I'd be posting in the group explaining what had actually happened.
Really annoys me when people post pictures to social media, news papers etc without actually knowing what was actually happened.