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Fake West Haven Facebook page triggers investigation

It looks like it could be the official West Haven Public Works Facebook page. But, there's one problem.

WEST HAVEN, Conn. — City officials are very upset with a Facebook page and post related to storm cleanup that FOX61 brought to their attention late Saturday afternoon.

It all started late Saturday afternoon when FOX61 received a viewer email, which contained a screenshot of a post from the Facebook page in question.

It looks like it could be the official West Haven Public Works Facebook page. But, there's one problem.

"We do not correspond to the public via Facebook," said West Haven Public Works Director Tom McCarthy. 

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That Facebook page asserted Saturday morning that because of staffing issues, plowing would not be done in the city until Monday morning.

"If our citizens are basing their decisions off of what they think is a post from the public works department officially, I mean, that's a tragedy," McCarthy added.

"And making up that fictitious, fake, fraudulent Facebook page and then putting snarky comments on it really really is counterproductive for anyone," said Mayor Nancy Rossi (D-West Haven).

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McCarthy said he and his DPW team are offended by the Facebook page and the lie.

"We have had 17 trucks, for pick-up trucks, all with plows, loaders we have not had a manpower shortage," said McCarthy.

Rossi says city employees are alerting Facebook.

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"And we also have that West Haven PD involved and they are definitely gonna go after every, every power that they have," she said.

"When you sent that (Facebook page) to me for the first time and I looked at it I was incredulous," McCarthy said.

The DPW Director says it's a real slap in the face to his team, who worked hard to handle this cleanup themselves so that the city would not incur the cost of outside contractors.

Tony Terzi is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tterzi@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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