…to wonder if this is a FB scam and if so, how?!

[NellesVilla]

Hello!

So, random people on Facebook try to add me now and then. People I have nobody in common with. Odd, but one of those things you ignore.

Anyway, 2 days running have had the same- fairly handsome- man try to add me, but each time with a new name. Eg- yesterday he tried to friend me as something akin to Joe Bloggs, then today as Mike Jones. Each time, same man. Looks a bit like Gavin Henderson- Charlotte Church’s ex.

Any idea why this person (male or female- we don’t know who’s behind it) could want to do this? And also why the name change? Do they do this for money? I thought maybe it was a bloke looking for ‘single’ women to dupe online, but I really don’t know, so thought maybe someone else could advise/enlighten me!

Thanks!

Its to get you to chat to a supposedly good looking guy. You get emotionally attached, they start asking for money. Its been one of the biggest scams for the past 15 years.

It's a catfish. They'll have taken the photos off someone else's profile and put together fake accounts to try and connect with people and spark a romance that ends with a plea for money. As with a lot of the 'Nigerian prince' type scams, if you're spotting it, you're not the mark - they'll send requests and messages scattergun until someone less savvy bites.

Thanks to both of you. I thought it was something similar but also how ridiculous- surely most people don’t respond, particularly now?!

It only takes one with money (and lonely) to respond. Thats all they need and its hardly tasking work sending friend requests hundreds of times a day.

They usually work on oil rigs and use celebrity’s photos. It’s amazing the audacity.

It's a scam and it's a numbers game - it's fairly easy to spot them once you know. The name and the photos often don't match. The next thing is to look at their profile and look anyone who is friends with them, or who has 'liked' any of their posts or photos. 9 times out of 10 the 'likes' all come from people from another country - somewhere in Africa or the Middle East. All very different from the name and profile of the person who messaged you.

You see these people posting in Facebook groups too - particularly anyone posting about duct cleaning etc without posting an actual company's website.

This week I had a very handsome guy with a very Western name try to friend me - he looked like someone from Italy/Med/Middle East - the idiot hacker though had scalped his photos from someone else's profile without realising he had left one photo of this doctor posing in front of a poster about himself with the name of the hospital he worked for and the name of the real person in the poster.

It took me less than 2 minutes to find the real person - actually a plastic surgeon from Turkey on Facebook.

I reported the scammer's profile as fake, and I messaged the real person and sent them the link to the scammer's profile so they could make their own complaint.

The really frustrating thing is Facebook told me my complaint was no upheld as they couldn't find anything wrong with the profile - very frustrating.

Yep, sounds like the Romance Fraud as PPs said. Fascinating programme about this on BBC "for love or money" where they investigate. The stories are quite shocking

So he strikes up a conversation with you, instils the sense that your online meet-cute is sweet and profound, keeps it going for a few weeks, appears interested and wanting to meet up…but lo and behold - he needs money for his petrol and accommodation (because of course he wants to be a gent and not expect to stay with you). Could you just help him out with a few hundred quid? And also he can’t meet you until he fixes his car which is another £500. Can you help him out and he’ll pay you on payday?

Classic scam.

I sometimes look on Facebook video and under any comment made by a woman over around 40 has comments by random bots/men all saying identical things like

'Hi xxx, you look lovely. I have been trying to add you as a friend but it doesn't seem to be working. Could you please send me a friend request?'

Blatant scammers.

Sounds like a Romance Scammer.

The other one is that they’ll be on their way to meet you, but there will be a visa problem and they’ll be detained at the airport/embassy and need you to transfer money so they can be on their way.

They will often claim to work for the US government in things like contractor roles or the army. And they’ll have a sudden emergency where their pay has been stopped and they need living expenses and so on.

A family friend got conned out of thousands through one of these scams in the early days of social media.

How stupid of him to send 2 x requests with 2 x different names. Second request has now disappeared but will report if he makes a 3rd brazen request!

Yes, romance scammer.

I don't think you can even say the same persons behind it.

i got one today asking me to send him a friend request. No ta.