Facebook Messenger Scams Just Got Way More Advanced and A Lot Scarier

On Tuesday evening of this week, I was getting ready to head over to the Owensboro Convention Center to emcee the annual banquet for the Kentucky Firefighter's Association. Randomly, as I was tying my tie and getting ready to head out the door, I got a message from my friend Andy Johnson.

Coincidentally, and precisely why I didn't think anything about it, Andy works for the Owensboro Fire Department.

The message he sent to me said, "Send me your phone number." I jokingly wrote back, "Are we not cell phone official?"  I have been friends with this man for nearly twenty years. We used to play softball together- locally and on a travel team. I assumed we exchanged numbers decades ago.  But, I sent him my cell phone number anyway.

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Seconds later, he started to video call me. At that point, I figured that Andy was going to be at the banquet, found out I was emceeing, and was going to ask me something about the program.  I answered the call and immediately saw Andy's face.  I could see mine too. It looked like your regular, run-of-the-mill video call on a cellular device. The only weird thing was the fact that I couldn't hear Andy.  He was looking at me. I was looking at him.  I was indicating to him that I couldn't hear him.  He was looking at his phone as if he was trying to figure out how to unmute himself. Then, out of shared frustration, we ended the call.

Andy immediately sent me another FB message that said, "My phone messing up. Can't hear you. I we text you."

My first thought was, "Bruh, spell check much?" But I figured he was just in a hurry. Then, my phone dinged again. As promised, Andy sent me a text message that said he had gotten logged out of his Facebook page and needed me to give him some kind of code to get him back in. He asked if I could help him.

Immediately, the red flag went up.  None of this made any sense to me at all. Also not making any sense was Andy's cell phone number. He lives in Owensboro where the area code is 270. This number had an area code of 919. So, I called another Andy- our mutual friend Andy Shively. He works for the Owensboro Fire Department too. I asked Andy to send me Andy Johnson's contact info. Before he did, he said, "FYI, his Facebook got hacked."

There was no doubt about it. Only, this Facebook 'hack' was astonishingly real. I literally had a video chat with Andy. I was looking at him. I was talking with him. I could see him moving and reacting to the fact that he couldn't hear me. Only, it was Andy at all. It was a version of him that had somehow been curated and preserved. What?? How is this even possible?

These hackers have royally stepped up their game. I am not someone prone to falling for scams. Nothing about this- at least at first- seem, looked, sounded like a scam.

I finally messaged Andy to tell him about my experience. I wasn't the only friend of his to get targeted. Andy said, "It's unreal. I've been getting calls about how real it looks." Oh, it definitely does and now I'm wondering if there's a video of me floating around out there that's going to be used for the same thing.

While this scam attempt was new to me, it has been around for a while now. Last year, WFTV Channel 9 did a story about the same thing. Check out that interview. That's exactly how this unfolded with 'Andy.'

Heads up, Team. On your guard! This scam, in which videos of your friends are captured and played back to you on video calls, is eerily real. It most definitely looks real. Except, it isn't and you may fall victim to it before you realize it. Luckily, I had my guard up almost instantly. Hopefully, this inspires you to keep yours up as well.