Scammers have tried to use the identity of Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon to take advantage of his social media followers.
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Mr Fitzgibbon posted a warning on his Facebook page on Tuesday telling people not to accept a friend request from accounts under his name that did not carry a blue verification tick.
“Early hours of this morning you may have received a friend request from me,” he wrote.
“Please do not accept it. There appears to be two fake Joel Fitzgibbon accounts set up and requests have been sent to a number of people who are linked to my page.
“The profile pictures used for both of these accounts are of a man with both hands raised in the air with the sunset in the background.
“If you have already confirmed the friendship please un-friend immediately.”
A spokeswoman from Mr Fitzgibbon’s office said she believed about 100 people had accepted friend requests from the bogus social media accounts.
She said Facebook had quickly removed the fake accounts after the company was notified of the scam.
The Mercury understands that a social media scam such as this attempts to get people to hand over personal information, such as bank account or credit card details.
First, a friend request comes from the fake account and, once accepted, the scammer asks for personal details in a direct message that is not posted on the target’s public Facebook wall.
Mr Fitzgibbon’s spokeswoman said Facebook was investigating whether there was a link between the two fake accounts.