ASCENSION (WBRZ) – The Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office is looking for the individual responsible for creating a fake sheriff's office page on Facebook.
The page claims to belong to the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office. It uses an official logo, however the page is filled with posts of false information.
Officials say the page can cause a serious problem for residents in the parish.
"I think this can turn into a real big problem because people will start following that page and believe in that page and with social media, rumors kinda get out there and spread in matter of seconds," Allison Hudson, of the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, said.
The difference between the fake page and real page is an apostrophe. The real page reads: Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, while the fake one reads: The Ascension Parish Sheriffs Office. The fake page also does not have a check mark next to it, which Facebook uses to show a verified account.
One resident, Karisti Fowler, said that she follows the Facebook page and relies on it to stay informed.
"If the person that did it, gives out the wrong information, that could hurt somebody," Fowler said.
Officials say that the fake page is reposting official messages from the real page, along with fake information.
"Fake messages, fake stories that did not happen here. What we are not sure of is if they are sending messages asking for any type of money," Hudson said.
The sheriff's office has issued Facebook a search warrant and an order to take the page down, however as of the posting of this story, the page still exists.