Police are warning the public to be aware of the latest scam circulating on Facebook.
The ruse has led to a number of incidents being reported to the PSNI on Thursday.
According to police, the trick has involved people receiving a Facebook friend request from someone they think they know.
But of course it’s far from the truth and what it appears to be on the surface.
The PSNI took to social media to warn people against making a costly mistakes.
“The person who sent the friend request, asked for their mobile number, and then asked them to text a code that they were going to send to them, as it was for a competition,” police explained.
“When they texted the number back with the code, they received a text thanking them for the payment of £30.
“It turned out that the reporting person’s friend’s Facebook account had been hacked.”
The PSNI is asking people not to be taken in adding: “If you receive a similar ‘out of the blue’ friend request, please think twice before responding, as it could prove to be an expensive ‘catch up’.”
