Facebook fraudster targets Huddersfield family in ‘gun robbery’ hoax

Feb 22 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A FACEBOOK fraudster was seconds away from conning a Huddersfield family out of hundreds of pounds by posing as a distressed relative.

The hacker stole an account on the social networking website belonging to Michelle Malpas’s cousin.

They then sent Michelle messages cruelly claiming her relative had been the victim of a gunpoint robbery and begging for cash.

Only a last-minute call scuppered the scam.

Now Michelle, of Sunnyhill Avenue in Kirkheaton, is warning other users to be on the look-out for internet imposters.

She said: “We were shocked that we so nearly fell for it.

“I just want to warn people. If anybody asks you to send money, don’t – unless you have spoken to them first.”

Michelle, 29, had logged on to Facebook on Tuesday evening when a message popped up on the instant ‘chat’ function, apparently from her cousin Joanne, who lives in Wakefield.

The family have asked us not to print Joanne’s last name because of the concerns raised as a result of the incident.

Within minutes, the hoaxer told Michelle that Joanne and her husband had been the victim of a robbery in Cardiff.

The message said: “We got mugged last night at gunpoint. Andrew got beaten up. He just got out of the hospital.”

The imposter claimed they had lost mobile phones, credit cards and cash before asking for help.

Distressed by what she had been told, Michelle told her dad, Paul, and sister, Nicola, that Joanne needed their help.

They offered to contact other family members and travel to Wales to pick the couple up, but were told they only wanted a loan to cover hotel bills and pay for bus travel.