So, according to my Grandma, I am ‘popular’ on Facebook because I have so many so called friends. It’s true, I do have quite an extensive collection, so when I heard from a high school friend via Facebook chat last week, I wasn’t really all that surprised. I had not spoken to this girl in about 15 years or so, but thought it was kind of cool that she was reaching out. We were pretty close friends back in the day, she knew stuff about me that not many others would have known, like my middle name and the name of my high school girlfriend.
Via facebook chat, she says Hi and I reply, how are you? She says NOT GOOD. Odd, I thought, so I of course probed deeper, what’s happening? She explained to me that she was on vacation with her family in Europe (which I thought was odd) and that she had been mugged and robbed on the way back to her hotel. I of course asked if I could help in anyway and she tells me she needs money to get back to the USA, about $2500. Now I knew something was up, this girl was quite proud, she would have never asked me for money, etc. I started to catch on that it wasn’t really her and asked what’s my middle name? The person could not answer and said, come on, why are you asking me these questions…. I replied, because I’m not quite sure it’s you. She said of course it’s me, etc. I then asked, what was my girl friends name in high school? There was dead silence and then a quick disconnection. The person had hijacked this girls facebook account and before I could warn her via her facebook wall, the person in control of the account ‘un-friended’ me from her wall so I couldn’t alert her.
Beware of scams like this in Facebook or any other social media venue. If your account gets compromised, report it quickly so that your good name isn’t being used or tarnished by the good ole’ Nigerians. Read this article for more social media precautions: http://www.examiner.com/x-13398-Salt-Lake-City-Social-Media-Examiner~y2009m7d29-The-Nigerian-Scams-Have-Hit-Social-Media-Whats-next
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