Fake Facebook post alerting residents about the ‘wet bandits’ from Home Alone fools cops who retweet warning
A warning about two men knocking on doors and claiming to be from a water company - which actually included a picture of the famous villains from Home Alone - was retweeted by Lancashire Police
COPS fell for a fake warning about fraudsters targeting Blackpool homes as they re-tweeted a Facebook scam featuring two familiar face claimed to be "dangerous".
The Home Alone 'wet bandits' are a familiar sight for kids of the 90s, but for Lancashire Police it seems the joke was a little lost.
The original post came from Steven King on Facebook, who uploaded the picture of the pair along with a tongue-in-cheek warning.
It said: "These two men are going around Blackpool, knocking on doors, claiming to be from United Utilities and asking for entry to your home to check your taps for possible leaks!
"DO NO let them in, they ARE NOT from United Utilities!!!
"PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS AS THEY ARE DANGEROUS!!!"
The fictional wet bandits would break into homes at Christmas while families were out, and then block the plugs and leave the taps running.
Many people commenting on the post got the joke and referenced the wet bandits and Home Alone in their replies.
The post has had more than 3,500 shares before it made its way onto Twitter.
The force re-tweeted a warning which came to them via United Utilities' head of news Sean Robinson, who said a number of calls had come in yesterday about people trying to gain entry to elderly people's home and claiming to be from United Utilities.
It looked as though the joke had been lost on him too, but he said he had used the fake post as a warning due to the real attempts made by con men in Burnley yesterday.
Later the police removed the re-tweet after perhaps realising the confusion.
A spokesman said: "[It] looks like we have re-tweeted something from United Utilities in good faith after they tagged us in it."
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