A Facebook friendship with a stranger cost a 59-year-old woman dearly after he pretended to send her expensive presents from the UK and convinced her to cough up close to Rs 10 lakh as 'taxes'.

In September last year, Juhu resident Kavita Arya (name changed) received a friend request on Facebook from an account by the name of John Adam Bryce, claiming to be a UK-based businessman. Arya accepted the request and the two started chatting on the social networking site. Later, they exchanged cell phone numbers.