It goes like this: You are on Facebook, when a "friend" uses the Facebook chat feature to send you an instant message. Sometimes it might be a message in your inbox. Either way, the "friend" informs you that they are trapped in some foreign country and have been robbed or have lost their wallet through some other unfortunate incident. They need you to wire money quickly to help them get home. However, on the other end is a person posing as your "friend" that has hacked into your actual friend's account.

This scam is really just a new version of the old email trick that informs a recipient they have "inherited millions," according to Cluley.

"The emails often say something like 'Just give us your bank account details and we will deposit the money," he said.

But in this particular Facebook ruse, the idea is to get you to assume it is someone you know and trust on the other end of the IM so you will wire money quickly to help them out.

"People tend to be more relaxed about communications with friends on social networks," noted Cluley. "Also, the scammer can use other information from your profile, such as your wife's name or your children's names, to make it seem more legitimate."