THE government has advised that there are fake Facebook accounts in the names of Deputy Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest and Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield, set up by persons who are asking for money.

Any messages received in either man’s name offering or soliciting financial assistance are fake, the government said.

The public is asked to exercise extreme caution and care when accessing all messages to establish which are authentic and which are false.

Last week, Mr Turnquest urged those on Facebook not to accept any friend requests from him, revealing there were two fake profiles using his name to solicit money.

“Dear friends,” Mr Turnquest wrote on his authentic Facebook page, “Please do not accept any friend request from me, I have not sent any invitations in over a year. There are now two fake profiles out there soliciting money in return for some grant. I am not and have not made any such solicitation or offer. Please do not engage these criminals. I am working with the police and Facebook to shut these accounts down but in the meantime please be careful and do not send money to anyone soliciting money in this way. Again, these are fake profiles.”