All in all, Jayne eventually sent $4,000 via Western Union to the impostor before realizing that she had fallen victim to a scam. On August 26th, she alerted the authorities.

This tactic has been used before, but there ways to avoid a snakey scammers:

• First and foremost, never wire any money without speaking directly (on the phone, not via e-mail or Facebook) to any friend who requests your help financially.
• If you believe there is a plausible reason this friend cannot reach you by phone, don’t be afraid to ask them to confirm their identity. Ask questions that only they would be able to answer.
• Don’t ask about birthdays or hometowns, facts that could be readily ascertainable online, but instead about where the two of you first met, first boyfriends, or high school mascots.
• If you know or suspect a friend’s account has been hacked, try to alert that person directly. Then, warn all of your mutual friends, and finally contact the site’s administrators regarding your suspicions. Both your friend and shared pals will be thankful.

Follow these basic guidelines, resist your immediate urge to blindly offer help, and you’ll avoid falling victim to the widespread 419 scams that have taken a more personal twist when crooks ditched their Nigerian princess roots. [From: AP/Yahoo! News]