Nigerian Scammers Still Roosting On Facebook
Facebook is arguably one of the safer corners of the Internet, with fairly complex security and privacy controls. But when passwords get busted, even on Facebook, not everyone is whom they're pretending to be. Like a Nigerian scammer, posing only slightly convincingly as one of your real-life friends, trying to get you to send them a $900 wire transfer.
A former university colleague ("Evan") passed along this Facebook conversation, which he promises really happened to him. In it, a scammer takes over one of his real-world friend's accounts ("Calvin"), pretends to be stranded in London, and asks for money to get a plane ticket and pay hotel bills.
We've asked Facebook about how common these types of scams are -- one made the rounds last November -- and what they do about them. In the meantime, a friendly reminder to be skeptical on the Internet, even when you think you're talking to someone you've known for years.
