Duped Facebook friend thought it was 'the real deal'

When a distressed friend asked for help after an overseas trip turned into a nightmare, a Kalgoorlie man was only too willing to pitch in.

But little did he know the $1000 he wired to Natasha Cann was in fact going to a professional cyber fraudster, who had hacked into her Facebook account and was proceeding to dupe all her friends into handing over their cash.

The man, who did not wish to be named, told WAtoday.com.au he was concerned after his friend Natasha told him she was in the United Kingdom and had just been robbed at gunpoint. She also said all her belongings - except her passport - had been stolen.

He said he had never met Natasha in person, but they had developed a friendship by phone and over email through their work dealings in the mining industry.

The man was speaking to her on Facebook chat, when "Natasha" told him about her overseas nightmare and asked him to send her $1000. "She asked me if I could help, I was like 'yeah no worries', and she needed some money to fix her hotel bill and to get back to Australia."