By Calls for people to be “more mindful” after local woman’s address shared on social media
A local woman has spoken out after her address was posted on social media for thousands of people to see, in a bid to encourage people to be “more mindful” of what they post online.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Gi Media she was getting her two children ready to go out when she heard a knock at the door.
“I don’t normally answer the door if I’m not expecting anyone as I’m on my own with two young kids but I remembered I’d ordered something and thought it may be early,” she said.
“I answered the door and a woman was there. She asked if I had hired a man with a van to clear any rubbish.
“I told her that I hadn’t, and she got her phone out and showed me a picture taken from a Facebook group of a letter with my address on with a load of fly-tipped rubbish in the background.
“Thankfully she had just wanted to warn me about the post because she had hired a man with a van without realizing that she needed to check his licence and got fined £1,000.”
She told Gi Media that someone had taken a picture of the letter with her address on it and posted it onto a local community Facebook group – but the letter was not hers.
She said: “Someone had taken a picture of the letter and posted it to a local community Facebook page and informed everyone that this person had been fly-tipping.
“The person’s name on the letter wasn’t mine. It is that of a previous tenant but she has been gone for at least a year now.
“I’m not too sure why she still has unopened letters from this address, but I can only speculate that she took it with her.”
The woman said the incident left her “really frustrated” and claims the person who made the original post did not think about the consequences of posting such confidential information to social media.
“Some people were suggesting that they would get the rubbish and dump it on my front if they had a van,” she alleged.
“I’m very lucky it was just a kind neighbour looking out for me, but it goes to show that anyone could have turned up on my doorstep to give me unwarranted grief in front of my two children.”
Now, the woman is calling for people in Grimsby and Cleethorpes to be “more mindful” of what they post online.
“I see a lot of posts like this on Facebook where people are naming, shaming and sharing sensitive information when they have no idea what the full story is,” she said.
To report any incidents of fly-tipping to North East Lincolnshire Council, call 01472 326300 or fill out this online form.
