DALTON, Ga. — A purported list of confidential informants posted on Facebook was not real and has put several people in danger, Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office officials say.

The posting, which was discovered on Saturday. was designed using the sheriff’s office’s website header and was made to look like a letter from a narcotics division deputy to Sheriff Scott Chitwood. In a statement, Chitwood said the posting “was not released by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office and is a false document.”

Ermon “Bud” Mulkey III was arrested on Saturday and charged with forgery, computer crimes, reckless conduct and identity fraud. Mulkey had an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a misdemeanor theft by receiving charge and had meth when he was taken into custody.

Lt. Paul Woods said many people believed the document was real. He said it could put those on the fake list in jeopardy for retribution from those who may have been arrested based on confidential sources. He said there was no way a computer hacker would be able to find a list like that.

“We don’t even keep lists like that in digital form,” Woods said. “We keep our sources of information as a hard copy, so this is totally false. It was a believable post to people. Some of the people on the list, I don’t even know who they are. Some of the names it seems like he just made up.”

There was also a list of people who “refused to cooperate.” Woods said Mulkey put himself on that list, using his nickname and not his full name.

“If he had used his real name, it might have been more believable,” Woods said. “Some of the people that are on the list have never had any dealings with our narcotics unit.”

The sheriff’s office has been in contact with Facebook in an attempt to have the posting removed.

“We are still in the process of removing it,” Woods said. “It was still available. We have contacted Facebook and their law enforcement request link. We have requested that this particular post be taken down as soon as possible.”

The investigation is continuing, and the statement from Chitwood said additional arrests are possible.

Mulkey remained in jail without bond on Tuesday and is scheduled for a bond hearing on Thursday.