WEST SPRINGFIELD – West Springfield resident William Harrison Fay woke up on March 2 to what he said was an alarming message. “My brother called me Saturday morning and asked me ‘Who is Sarah?’ I said ‘What are you talking about?’” Fay explained.

Fay’s brother directed him to a Facebook forum for West Springfield residents and explained that there was a post about Fay circulating. The post showed two images of Fay next to a photo of a woman who appeared to have been beaten. The post read “Please be on the lookout for this man here. He goes by the name of William Harrison Fay or Will. West Springfield Police are looking for him for the assault and batter of my sister Sarah. Please share and if you see him approach with caution.”

Fay explained that the post had originated at 4 a.m. on March 2. By late morning, the post had already been shared over 150 times.

“I called the West Springfield Police Department right away to find out what was going on. I had a detective at my house about half an hour after reporting it,” Fay explained.

There was no crime committed and Fay was not wanted by the West Springfield Police Department. A reverse image search on Google of the woman used in the photo beside Fay showed that the image has been used on a variety of websites to represent domestic violence. The woman in the photo is from the United Kingdom and was involved in a domestic violence case a decade ago.

The West Springfield Police Department took action to counteract the post. The police department shared a post to their Facebook page on March 2 stating, “There is a false Facebook post that is spreading quickly in the local area. As seen below if you see a post referring to this incident, it is fake, and we are not actively looking for the individual named. WSPD is however currently looking into the originator of this.”

Because the group was a closed group on Facebook and Fay was not a member, he was unable to immediately contact the page administrator to have the post removed. “Eight or so people, including my family and friends, tried to join the group. We sent messages stating that the post was false. I had friends spam reporting it over and over again. Finally, it was taken down,” Fay explained.

Until the group removed it, Fay explained that he watched members comment on it without being able to explain the truth. “I couldn’t comment because I wasn’t a part of the original group. I literally couldn’t, so I had to sit by and not defend myself,” Fay shared.

While Fay said he was not contacted with negative comments during the length of the post being active, he admitted that it hurt to witness the comments on the post. “I didn’t have anyone who didn’t know me try to contact me. The comments on the original post were not exactly nice. It definitely hurts quite a bit to see comments about you in regard to a crime you didn’t commit,” Fay shared.

But Fay said he doesn’t want to be mistaken as a victim. “I didn’t want to cry boohoo or give the impression that I was a victim. I wanted to share that online users should take 30 seconds to look into something before sharing it,” Fay said.

Fay shared that the positive to come out of the situation was the people who contacted him after. “I had a few people contact me to apologize for sharing it without looking into it further. It was nice to see,” Fay said.

Fay suggested that someone who finds themselves victims of a fake Facebook post follow certain steps. For example, if the post is on a group page and not a personal Facebook account, page administrators have the option to remove it. If the post is created on a personal Facebook page, Facebook has the option for users to report the post.

Fay said, “If you’re a minor, I would suggest you talk to somebody. Whether it’s your parents or a guidance counselor, get a hold of someone. If you’re over 18, if there’s a post that states you’re wanted by the police, get the police involved.”

According to Fay, it’s also important for the police to be alerted to ensure there is no real crime behind the post. “In my head, I was worried that someone really was being abused and I was blamed for it. I hadn’t immediately realized there was no actual crime behind the post and it was a 100 percent fake post. It’s important to figure out if there’s an actual case and to put in a statement,” Fay said.

Fay said he believes it’s important to educate others on how to properly validate a Facebook post. “When you’re not a tech savvy person, the share button is right there and easy to use. People may not understand the ramifications of sharing a fake post,” Fay said.

A week after the post originated, Fay said life is getting back to normal. “I really didn’t get too much negative traction. I was recognized once at the Eastfield Mall the day that it happened. Someone said, ‘Hey, aren’t you the guy the West Springfield Police Department is looking for?’ and I had to explain that I wasn’t wanted. Other than that, there was nobody in town that recognized me. Thankfully, social media posts aren’t being shared around other than my friends sharing positive posts from news outlets telling the story,” Fay said.