POLICE are carrying out an investigation after a businessman was contacted by a woman from Grimsby selling sex online.
Officers have today issued advice to users of social networking sites to be cautious about what they post, and the Facebook page in question has been taken down.
Andy Carr, 34, of Glebe Road, Humberston, says he was sent a message by a Facebook user claiming to be from Grimsby and selling sexual acts.
He said: "It started when I got a notification saying I was friends with her, but I didn't actually know the user or try to get in contact with her.
"I sent her a message saying that I didn't know her and that I didn't mean to add her if that is what I did.
"She replied, asking if I would be interested in having sex with her.
"I politely declined the offer and told her I was happily married.
"After this, I looked through her profile and was shocked by what I found. There was a list of sex acts and how much they cost.
"There were also a number of other people asking her if they knew her.
"Her profile was filled with vile language. There was also evidence of her trying to arrange meetings at the train station.
"I called the police because there were a lot of younger people listed as her friends.
"I wrote a Facebook status warning people about this person and I was contacted by parents saying their teenagers were friends with her on the site.
"This was genuinely worrying and some people might see the funny side, but if you look closer, young people could be exposed to it."
Facebook is self-regulating, and users can report content that they find questionable or offensive.
A Humberside Police spokesman said: "We have received a complaint relating to an inappropriate page hosted within a popular social media website from a concerned member of public.
"Inquiries are being made to try to establish the validity and source of the information which was posted on the site in order to take appropriate action if required.
"It is worth remembering that, once posted, information on social networking sites can potentially be viewed and passed on to hundreds if not thousands of users and anything posted either as a hoax or as a joke can get out of hand very quickly with often serious and sometimes damaging consequences, resulting in police investigations and, on occasion, criminal charges to those responsible, so please think twice before posting."
A Facebook spokesman said users and material on the site can be removed for a variety of reasons, including:
The account is registered under a fake name or false identity, which is in violation of our real name requirement.
Improper collection of personal information.
Issues which Facebook determines violate community standards such as bullying.
Infringement of intellectual property rights.
Something flagged by one of its automated systems for preventing spam and other such behaviour.
