Skylar Bishop, 5, has photo stolen by Facebook scammers after death of mum, grandma in Queensland

A Queensland family is being repeatedly re-traumatised after a little girl who survived a horrific car crash became the face of an international social media scam.

Shelly Bishop (left) and Skylar Bishop (right). Skylar survived a double-fatal crash which killed her mother, Jessyica Bishop and grandmother Maryanne Bishop. Skylar has become the face of an international Facebook scam post.

A Queensland family has been left reeling and re-traumatised after a little girl who survived a car crash which claimed her mother and grandmother became the face of an international social media scam.

Skylar Bishop, 5, suffered severe injuries when the car carrying her and three other members of her family was struck head-on by a drug driver on Goodwood Rd, Kinkuna, on March 21, 2021.

Skylar’s mother Jessyica Bishop, 32, and grandmother, Maryanne Bishop, 52, were killed as a result of the crash.

Andrew Stewart Casey was in February 2022 sentenced in Bundaberg District Court to 10 years behind bars over the crash.

Months after Casey’s sentencing, Skylar’s aunt, Shelly Bishop, made the horrifying discovery that a picture of her little niece unconscious on a hospital bed was circulating the internet in a series of hoax posts.

Skylar Bishop survived a double-fatal crash which killed her mother, Jessyica Bishop, and grandmother, Maryanne Bishop.

The wreckage of the Bishop family’s car which was hit by drug driver Andrew Stewart Casey. Maryanne and Jessyica Bishop died as a result of the 2021 crash.

The post began circulating in early December on multiple buy and sell groups on Facebook, including a Townsville-based group.

Ms Bishop said when she first heard of the scam, she became concerned for her niece’s safety.

“She (Skylar) had to have surgery … on her arm as it was pretty much degloved … we thought something had happened to her,” Ms Bishop said.

The post shows a picture of Skylar, taken from a news article published in the wake of her mother and grandmother’s deaths, and contains the same text each time it is posted.

The text is vaguely localised depending on the area the group is based, but uses American terminology such as “deputy”, and is poorly written.

A scam post using a photo of young Queensland girl Skylar Bishop (right), is circulating on Facebook pages worldwide.

The post with Skylar’s picture is later changed to a scam real-estate listing.

“We need your help to identify this little girl who was riding her bike and got involved in a hit and run a few hours ago in Townsville,” the post read.

“The deputies are not able to identify her, because she has no ID with her,

“The suspect is currently on the run and the girl is still unconscious in hospital. Please bump post so that family can see.”

The identity of a second female child, who is pictured wearing a helmet in what appears to be dashcam footage from a crash, is unknown.

The original picture of Skylar Bishop, 5.

Skylar Bishop in hospital after the crash.

The post is later edited to display a phony rental listing and prompts users to click on a dodgy link.

The post was recently shared almost 400 times in a Townsville group, but has also been posted to groups in Bundaberg, Mackay, Gladstone, and even internationally in America and Alaska.

Another was shared almost 2000 times.

For the Bishops, this was another devastating blow with traumatic ramifications.

“We all have post-traumatic stress disorder from (the crash), so it’s really hard to see that picture everywhere,” Ms Bishop said.

“But once they (scammers) change it to the property post it looks like hundreds of people have liked and shared it, and they think ‘maybe this is a good deal’, because people are desperate these days.”

She has taken to dredging through the social media site to find re-posts of the picture in an effort to make sure people are aware of the scam.

Shelly and Skylar Bishop (right).

“I’ve been trying to report it but apparently it doesn’t go against Facebook’s standards, so we can’t really get rid of them so I’m trying to let people know it’s a scam,” she said.

“It’s all over the world – it’s in America too … I have been on every single post; if I can comment on them, I do,

“It’s taken me days to comment on them all (but) there’s no point because it doesn’t go against (Facebook’s) community standards.”

Ms Bishop said while she would keep spreading awareness about the scam, the emotional impact from reliving the loss of her mother and sister was taking its toll.

“Scammers are using the photo for their own financial gain with no remorse towards the families they impact,” she said.

“These are painful reminders of the loved ones we lost.”

To report a scam, head to: https://bit.ly/3HMvI0q

Originally published as Skylar Bishop, 5, has photo stolen by Facebook scammers after death of mum, grandma in Queensland