Wisconsin Veteran gets Scammed by Facebook 'Friend'

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) - A Navy veteran in Kaukauna says he lost hundreds of dollars after one of his friends on Facebook had his account compromised, and messaged him about a government program that sounded too good to be true.

Kim Girts had been friends with Everett, in real life and on Facebook, for years.

\"Close personal friend of mine contacted me and told me that I have an opportunity to apply for a government grant, that you can get this government grant and you do not have to pay it back,\" Girts explained.

His friend Everett said he could get $100,000 from the government through a grant.

All he had to do was pay a few hundred dollars in \"taxes.\"

\"He said, 'This is an opportunity for you to get back things that you wanna do again,' so I went for it,\" Girts said.

The grant was a lie, and the veteran sent a total of $400 to a fraud. 

He only realized he had been conned after his 'friend' asked for more money. 

\"When they came back and said, 'We need $700 more,' I said that ain't happening,\" Girts said.  

Girts went to the Kaukauna police, who reached out to the police in Indianapolis where Girts' friend lived.

\"The chief told me, he says, 'I spoke to Everett, Everett has no clue or no knowledge of this going on at all.\"

The Better Business Bureau is seeing identity theft happen more often through social media. 

\"The picture, the name, is somebody very familiar to them, so they you know accept the friend request and shortly thereafter this friend starts making all these outrageous claims,\" Susan Bach, regional director of the Better Business Bureau in Northeast Wisconsin, said. 

If you believe you have fallen victim to a crime, you can report it on the BBB's website.

The BBB also recommends reporting scams to local law enforcement.