More than 20 versions of the same basic claim have been circulating in an array of Facebook groups. They claim a dangerous man is going door-to-door asking for money.
Each caption is nearly identical, except for the name of the city where the man purportedly is: Melbourne, Florida; Franklin County, Missouri; Charleston, South Carolina; and Springfield, Massachusetts.
The photo attached to each of the posts shows a man with a beard walking down a street in a red and grey zip-up jacket and tan shorts. The caption says the man has an accent, is wielding a knife, previously attacked three teens and is wanted by police.
The posts have accumulated hundreds of shares.
All of these iterations are hoaxes.
Police departments from several of the cities where the hoax surfaced released public statements or told USA TODAY there is no truth to these claims. USA TODAY found no credible reports of a man matching this description wanted by police in any of the areas mentioned.
USA TODAY reached out to several social media users who shared the posts for comment.
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This is the latest iteration of a social media phenomenon in which users post that the same noteworthy event is occurring in several places across the country. USA TODAY has debunked other...
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