The latest scam in Idaho involves fake Facebook friends

We all know that scams are common during the holiday season, but

However, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office is warning that a new scam is taking over Idaho by storm, taking advantage of the friends you “think” you have on Facebook.

Pay attention to your friends list!

The Ada County Sheriff’s Office is warning us to be vigilant and watch out for who we interact with on Facebook. Yes, we know – it feels like 2009 again, but here we are in 2024 and scammers are still using Zuckerberg’s platform to commit illegal acts.

Apparently, scammers scan the friends lists of unsuspecting victims and copy profiles from that person’s list. They then contact the victim, and that’s when the alarm bells start ringing.

According to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, “The ‘friend’ mentions a $100,000 donation. These friends’ accounts are usually duplicated or hacked, making it appear as if the direct message is coming from their actual Facebook friend.”

They then refer you to the “person in charge of the scholarship” and ask you to pay a “tax” on the scholarship in the form of gift cards.

It gets a little crazier in the details, but basically it’s quite simple: They take your money via gift cards. Below is the full explanation of this scam from our friends at the Ada County Sheriff’s Office:

Crazy, right? It’s unfortunate that people still resort to this tactic to make money, but it happens. Maybe it would be a good idea to set your friends list to private, right?