Alert over hacked Mayo Facebook accounts offering big 'grants' to people

A significant number of Mayo Facebook accounts have been hacked by scammers seeking 'friends' to sign up to a senior companion programme.

By impersonating the accounts Facebook friends of those being contacted via messenger texts, the con-artists claim to be "serving elderly people, adults with disabilities and unemployment benefits."

The text messages, which look genuine at first viewing, also allege "they provide grants for qualified individuals, workers and retired people, starting from the age of 40 and above."

They further purport to "help old people who need assistance paying for bills, buying a house and other things."

The hackers reveal that a named agent "assisted with the application process" - and "I'm so excited because I received 65,000 when I applied and I don't have to pay it back."

The scammers added: "You can give it a try as well. I think you should contact one of the agents in charge to apply for it."

People who replied in the affirmative at that stage were sent 'the official page link' of an agent.

The matter has been reported to An Garda Siochána and members of the public have been advised not to engage as the messages are not from a Facebook friend but from somebody ultimately seeking to get them involved in an illegal scheme that could cost them a lot of money.

A number of the people whose Facebook accounts have been impersonated have also contacted An Garda Siochána and have either closed their Facebook accounts or removed their profiles from their pages.

In the meantime, members of the public are advised not to engage with these scammers who are seriously undermining the integrity of Facebook for genuine users.

It has reached a point, sadly, where nobody can believe or trust any message they receive via the platform.