A Dubbo grandmother has outwitted a scammer who urged her to apply for a federal government grant of $100,000.
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Facebook Messenger was the vehicle for the scam which included a link which the 66-year-old woman wisely didn't click.
The woman, who asked the Daily Liberal for anonymity, through she had been contacted by a long-standing and far-away friend.
But after a couple of exchanges she realised a scam was in play.
"This is a new program was established by the federal government with the conjunction of World Bank to help people in the society to meet up their needs, i got $100,000 delivered to me which i apply for the grant and you dont have to pay it back, you can also apply too," the scammer wrote.
"This is real and legit and I get my money deliver to my door step in cash when I qualify for the grant."
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Poor English in the message instantly told the grandmother that it did not come from her friend.
"I know this is a scam. Bugger off," she wrote back. "How" was the response.
The Dubbo woman did not take the Messenger exchange further and did not click a link which purported to lead her to information about an "attorney" but instead could have propagated the scam.
"I rang my friend and asked him if he had been chatting to me in Messenger," she said.
"He said 'you're the second one'."
The grandmother's friend posted a warning on his Facebook page and she reported the scam to Facebook.