Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce warns community about a misleading Facebook group

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. —

The Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce is warning the community about a misleading and potentially fraudulent Facebook group titled "Punta Gorda What's Going On?"

The group has over 2,000 followers, so many of you may have seen it pop up. However, the administrative team is not local, as Facebook shows they're based in Texas.

"You're not supposed to believe everything you see on the internet, and then that's the problem. It goes on way too much," said Punta Gorda resident Kevin Chmielowiec.

Over the past weekend, someone posted a negative review about Dough Bar Pizza & Pasta in Punta Gorda. The content of this post was copied word-for-word from another Facebook group more than a year and a half ago.

"It hurts because I work a ton of hours. I take pride in what I put out to my customers. My first ingredient is love, and that just shoots me down," said Charles Pecoraro, owner of Dough Bar Pizza & Pasta.

The chamber says unofficial or misleading social media pages can spread outdated or false information, harming local business reputation and confusing residents and visitors.

"This one particular post ended up with four Google reviews, one-star reviews for a restaurant that has multiple five-star reviews. It's people that either have never been here and just going off that one rogue post," said Sean McLaughlin, with Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber urges you to be cautious where you get your information from. If your business is targeted, document the post and contact the Chamber of Commerce.

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