Beckenham student in cyber hell after Facebook escort fraud

Jazmine Jones, of Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, has been living a nightmare since last October when she became aware her email account had been hacked.

Hackers then accessed her Facebook account, stealing personal information and around 300 photographs.

The 23-year-old said: "Since then they've set up all these Facebook accounts pretending to be me.

"When I realised this was happening I went to the police straight away.

"They told me there was nothing they could do, don't take it seriously I am sure it will be fine.

"I also told Facebook but each time they close an account a new one opens up.

"In June it got completely crazy. There were 10 fake Facebook accounts of me.

"It's basically identity theft.

"Not only this but these accounts have been messaging guys on Facebook asking them to borrow money and saying I'm an escort to get money."

The law student says she knows of one man, James, who paid £250 after an account in her name messaged him saying she was stranded in her car and needed money.

This is an internet phenomenon known as eWhoring, where someone pretends to be a girl on social media, talks to men and gets them to pay them money.

Things have turned even more sinister of late, with the perpetrators Facebook messaging Miss Jones photos of her driver's licence, obtained from her hacked e-mails, and threatening to set up bank accounts in her name.

She added: "It's complete cyber bullying and I'm starting to fear for my safety.

"I've contacted the police and they've told me that unless it is a terrorism threat there is nothing they can do about it.

"I feel let down and unsupported.

"It seems they won't do anything unless something really serious happens.

"I don't know who this person is and it's getting to the point that I feel I could get attacked or something.

"Why am I paying my taxes if the police cannot protect me?

"I feel if they had done something when this started then I wouldn't be in this position."

A Facebook spokesman said: "We take our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities very seriously and react quickly to remove reported content that violates our policies.

"The goal of these policies is to strike a very delicate balance between giving people the freedom to express themselves and maintaining a safe and trusted environment.

"We encourage people to report anything they feel violates our policies using the report links located throughout the site or by using the reporting tools in our Help Centre at facebook.com/report."

A police spokesman said: "If someone has created a fake social media account in your name, you should report this to the social media company provider concerned, who will then be able to take the appropriate steps to have the profile removed."