Padiham gran's warning after fraudster tries to con her out of cash by pretending to be a friend on social media

Vivien Storey received the message on Facebook ,from someone posing as a former colleague and friend, asking for a loan of £30 to see them through to payday. It came through on the sender's messenger account which is a way for people to contact each other privately on the social media platform.

Vivien (51) said: "First of all, it didn't seem like the sort of thing this person would do and the language and tone of the message wasn't how he would speak.

"I suspected right away it was fake but replied asking him how he was."

Trusting her instincts Viv rang the friend and her suspicions proved to be right as he had not sent her any messages and his account had actually been hacked.

Viv, who works as a childcare practitioner at Blooming Buds Childcare in Padiham, added: "It is disgusting that these fraudsters are preying on the kindness of people.

" I was alert to it right away but a lot of people, especially the elderly, won't be.

"And particularly if they think the message is from one of their children or a family member who needs money."

Viv reported the incident to the police who are advising people to visit https://www.getsafeonline.org/ to find out information on the latest scams being used by fraudsters

Vivien, who is married to Justin and has a son Dale and grandson Frankie (six) added: "Please be on your guard for scams of this kind and let your relatives know that if they receive a message like this to get in touch with the person who they believe has sent it to make sure it is not a scam.

"This was only a small amount of money they were asking for but this could be happening to thousands of people everyday of the week.

"It really is shocking."