Edythe Schumacher logged onto the social networking site recently and a picture of her sister popped up immediately, inviting her into a Facebook chat. After a bit of small talk, Schumacher’s sister – Susan Palmer – egged her on to apply for a government grant, saying she’d just received one. For an up-front fee of $2,000, Schumacher was assured, she'd get access to up to $500,000.Schumacher trusted her sister — and lost $2,000.
Apparently, Facebook impersonation scams have reached a new level of duplicity. Palmer's account had been hacked, Schumacher says, by an impersonator skilled enough to pretend to be her own flesh and blood. The fake Palmer eventually talked Schumacher into wiring $2,000 to an address in Massachusetts.
"Turns out I was not chatting at all with my sister," Schumacher told authorities, according to a report filed with the Ohio state attorney general’s office. "I would never have sent the money if I didn’t think it was my sister."
Facebook account hijacking has been around as long as Facebook itself. While it often amounts to little more than childish pranks, the theft of someone's identity on Facebook can lead to real harm. Imposters have successfully tricked victims into wiring money before — a common scam involves contacting friends and writing an email with dramatic claims of muggings, accompanied by desperate pleas to wire money
source redtape
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