'Fake news' about attacks on the elderly is being used to frighten Northlanders into buying personal security alarms from a US website.
The fake online report, which claims police are urging people to buy a safety device after an assault on a 67-year-old woman, is designed to look like a genuine news story, and has been shared unwittingly by Facebook users.
It gives an account of an attempted robbery as the victim was doing her grocery shopping, and quotes police as saying attacks on seniors had increased dramatically during September, many victims suffering serious injury and financial loss. The location of the attack is changed to match the reader's location.
The report quotes an unnamed police officer as saying, "This trend of targeting seniors is deeply disturbing, but it's a harsh reality we have to deal with. It is absolutely imperative that our elderly residents stay on high alert and protect themselves by carrying a personal alarm."
It also provides links to a US website selling SafeSound personal alarms, which it claims are "saving millions of lives," for about NZ$60.