by Glenda Williams, BNC correspondent

Geneva, AL (BNc) — Scam artists are doing an excellent job in scamming innocent people on Facebook. Late one night I noticed a friend from Atlanta posted that he needed immediate help in a foreign country. I replied, and he informed me his daughter had been in a serious car accident in the Philippines. She was at the hospital in critical condition and they wouldn’t treat her until a family member stood good for her bill. Calls were made to distant places and instant messages flowed freely back and forth because the need was urgent. He needed $1200.00 wired to a friend of his daughter in the Philippines who would see that the hospital got the money. He did not have a credit card and wanted to use ours. Of course, we could do that. We knew he would stand good for it later. But, the scammer made a small, significant mistake. During the three hours we were messaging back and forth, he cursed. Our friend wouldn’t do that. A red flag went up and doubts began appearing.

Even though the transaction was made, I was able to cancel it before he picked up the money. The scammer couldn’t believe I would cancel and leave his daughter untreated. He said I had wasted his time. I was nice in choosing the choice words I left him with, but was thankful we didn’t lose any money, only sleep. And our friend in Atlanta? He and his family were asleep and knew nothing of what was going on in his name in the late hours of the night on FB. When called, he got on FB and alerted every one of the scam.

Beware! Scammers are out there posing as one of your friends who needs immediate help.