North Bay police warning of a Facebook scam

North Bay police are reminding Facebook users to be vigilant when accepting friend requests— and requests for money from strangers— after a victim was taken for thousands of dollars.

In a release issued today, police said that the victim was contacted with a friend request by a person claiming to be a U.S. military doctor stationed in Iraq. Facebook chats and email correspondence between the two followed.

Police said the fraudster then asked the victim to assist in getting a parcel out of Iraq in exchange for a large sum of cash as compensation.

The victim received emails over several months from others claiming to be courier companies, customs agents and diplomats.

Each of these individuals said there was some sort of delay or problem with the delivery, and needed money to fix the problem. The funds were said to be required for certificates, customs clearance, storage fees, and other fabricated events.

Police said the victim sent several payments before he discovered that it was a scam.