Scammers posing on Facebook, other sites

Your friends may not be your friends after all.

Hackers are gaining access to Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking accounts to scam people by posing as a friend and claiming to have been mugged or stranded in a foreign county.

Then comes a request for money and instructions on where to wire the cash.

Chances are that's not your friend.

The plea is part of a scam making the rounds, said Craig Butterworth, spokesman for the Henrico County-based National White Collar Crime Center.

The exact number of fraud claims filed about the scam was not available, but Butterworth said it was in the several thousands.

"The reality is Facebook has seen an explosion in popularity, and where people congregate, bad guys are going to go as well," he said.

The scam starts with a simple e-mail. The subject says something like "You should see these pictures I have of you" or some other curiosity-peeking statement.

The e-mail has an embedded link. If you click it, hackers get access to your account.

Then they pose as you and request money. Some of the pleas say a cell phone is lost or stolen and that there is no other way to communicate.

Contact Emily C. Dooley at (804) 649-6016 or .