MILTON - Keith the friend is real. "Keith" who sent messages to Connie and Scott Bell is not, and now the Milton couple is out $1,000 in an unnerving online scam.

Connie and Scott Bell, ages 34 and 47 respectively, said they got a note from Keith -- they declined to give his last name -- via Facebook's message function, which works like e-mail.

From there, the story takes a sad yet familiar turn.

Facebook, the world's largest social networking site, claims more than 400 million users worldwide, all with varying degrees of personal information on their sites. Hacking and scams are finding their way onto Facebook more often. A story reported in The Daily Item March 28 told of a Lewisburg woman whose account was hacked and being used to scam people for money.

The scammer, who called himself John Holly, either followed "Keith's" information or just lucked out on his disguise. Keith is a longtime, trusted friend of the Bells; "there was no reason not to trust him," Scott said.

The message said "the federal government under the leadership of President Obama ... is giving out $50,000 each ... to Yahoo ID and AIM screen names and Facebook profile names found on the scammer's computer."

Phony investigator

The e-mail, which the Bells provided to The Daily Item, had the name John Holly in it, stating he was the investigator on the case.

The awful peg is the deal claimed to be "part or measures of stopping scam and compensating the people that have been scammed ... and some people who are poor in the community, especially the disables, [sic] and hard of hearing."

Scott Bell is disabled, suffering from syncope, or insufficient blood flow to the brain that causes a temporary loss of consciousness and posture, typically caused by low blood pressure. Scott uses a motorized scooter to get around.

Their friend Keith is deaf, Scott said.

Claiming this was for real, and he saw Connie's name on the list, "Keith" told the Bells to follow through and get their money. For $1,000, they would get their $50,000.

Scott Bell said they communicated with "Keith," thinking it was their friend and decided to go forward with the deal.

Now they were dealing with John Holly, who told the Bells to send the money via Western Union to an address in Los Angeles. Scott Bell said he sent the money through Western Union at Weis Markets in Milton Oct. 14.

Next, they heard again from Holly, who said money was held up for some reason, and that the Bells should call Western Union to see why.

Scott Bell said Western Union told the couple the address was for a Rene Alverez in Los Angeles and that he was barred from receiving any money from Western Union. The Bells did not know why.

Once again communicating with Holly, he gave the Bells a new address to use, and the money went through about 7:30 that night. Holly told the Bells they'd have their check delivered by FedEx in about two hours.

When 10 p.m. came and went, Scott Bell contacted Holly, who told him it would be there 10 a.m. the next day. When that didn't happen, the Bells again tried to reach Holly, who said the money was held up in customs, and they needed to send $500 more to get it.

Scott Bell said he told Holly he would print out everything and take it to the state police.

"Within minutes, everything was gone," Bell said: the Facebook profile, e-mail, everything. All that remains is a picture of "John Holly" on his Facebook friends list.

Det. Daniel Embeck of the Milton Police Department got the case Friday, and said while the police are following it, there may not be much they can do.

"In a lot of places, these scams take place out of state, sometimes out of the country," Embeck said. "If it were local, we could follow up on this."

Embeck said he told the Bells to contact Facebook and Verizon, their Internet provider, to get an IP address for the account.

Who can you call?

That can be tough. The Daily Item could not find a phone number to contact Facebook. It has a section for "compromised and hacked accounts" under the "Safety" heading on the main page, and a frequently asked questions list that discusses money transfer scams. But there are myriad subject headings, none of which leads the user to a real person for help.

The Bells said they had not yet contacted Verizon regarding the matter.

Embeck advised the Bells to try the state attorney general's office and even the FBI for help. "We're not writing it off, but we're waiting to see if (the Bells) can get this information" regarding the Internet protocol address, he said. "Then if it's something local, it would be great to make an arrest and try to get his money back."

Embeck said this scammer was one of the "slicker ones that won't ask for money up front. They try to build your confidence first."

Essentially, Embeck warned people of anything that offers money or prizes in return for a fee or credit card information.

The best way to avoid scams is not to deal with them, Embeck said. "Nothing is for free. The old adage, if it sounds too good to be true, works," he said.

If you find yourself taken, "notify local police and let them see what they can do. If it gets past the point where they can help, there are other agencies," such as the state's attorney general's office, he added.