The Sweetwater County Sheriff's office is warning people about a scam cyber crooks have  been employing on Facebook.

According to department spokesman Dick Blust, the prospective victim is contacted by someone claiming to be a person who has been  "friended" who says something has happened to their account and asks the victim to "friend" them again. In followup e-mails the cyber crook talks about receiving a large sum of money from a phony federal program that allegedly  helps poor or handicapped people. The perpetrator uses the phoney grant money and the supposed friendship with the victim to con the person into giving them personal and financial information that can then be used to steal money from bank accounts and other sources of money.

Blust says anyone receiving such a message should contact the person who has been friended and ask them if they sent the message. If not, the person  should warn the friend that their  Facebook account has been compromised and is being used illegally. He adds that you should never, under any circumstances, provide personal financial information to someone who has contacted you with being solicited.

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