Police have praised Tesco staff for saving a customer from scammers.
The unwitting man popped along to the Castlebawn store in Newtownards to buy Amazon vouchers after a heartless thief convinced him through Facebook messenger that he was one of his friends.
PSNI North Down and Ards said in a statement: "A big thank you to the staff at Tesco, Castlebawn for you recent efforts.
"You have inevitably saved a victim from parting with some of their hard earned money thanks to your ability to spot a scam.
"A member of the public was contacted by what he believed was one of his friends via Facebook Messenger. Unfortunately this 'friend' was actually a scammer who had managed to glean information from his real friend's Facebook profile.
"The scammer promised large sums of money, which of course would only be payable after the victim sent 'Amazon vouchers' up front!
"No genuine company will ever conduct their business in this manner. Please be careful and remember how to spot the signs of a scam."
Here they are:
S - seems to good to be true
C - contacted out of the blue
A - asked for personal details
M - money requested
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