Facebook Romance Leads to Banking Hacks
Facebook has connected the world, which brings many benefits for communication and the dissemination of information. But there’s a downside that hasn’t gotten much attention until recently: the love scams that proliferate on the social network.
In a recent shocking incidence, some Facebook users - often young men in Nigeria - steal the digital photos and identities of Americans in the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force. Posing as the service members, the scammers sweet talk vulnerable and lonely women, forming an emotional connection - and eventually asking for their money.
The article published and says, our colleague Jack Nicas followed one military love hoax. He found Renee Holland, who had an online friendship with a person she thought was an American soldier named Michael Chris. She sent Mr. Chris $26,000 to $30,000, much of the life savings that she and her husband had socked away. Representative Adam Kinzinger, who serves in the Air National Guard, has asked Facebook to provide more information about its efforts to keep scammers from impersonating military personnel.
But Mr. Chris was not a real person. The photo that Ms. Holland saw was of Sgt. Daniel Anonsen of the Marine Corps - and he was contending with dozens of impostor Facebook and Instagram accounts, and had no idea who Ms. Holland was.
In December, Ms. Holland’s husband, Mark Holland, killed her and her father before turning the gun on himself. Mr. Holland did not leave any indication of a motive.
The New York Times published her story last weekend and aired it in an episode of our television show, “The Weekly.”
”In some of her final conversations with me, Ms. Holland expressed how thrilled she was that we were covering her story,” Jack said of the tragedy. “She said she wanted to raise awareness about the issue and prevent future scams.”
The story caught the attention of Representative Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois. Mr. Kinzinger, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, is one of the many American service members who have been ensnared in these scams.
For years, Mr. Kinzinger said, impostors have been posing as him or using his image to trick people out of money. As much as he has complained, the problem has persisted.
On Wednesday, he sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, requesting more information on what the company is doing to prevent such fraud on its sites.
“There needs to be accountability for this issue that can, quite frankly, destroy lives,” he wrote to Mr. Zuckerberg. “Facebook has an immensely significant role to play in getting this situation under control.”
Mr. Kinzinger said he was also in the early stages of preparing legislation to address the issue.
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