A story broke last week about a 22-year-old man pleading guilty to killing an 18-year-old girl he met on Facebook.

The story said the man created a fake Facebook account posing as a team leader at the New South Wales Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES). He lured the teenage girl, known to be an animal lover, into a wilderness area under the pretense of a job interview, and then killed her.

The "Facebook killer" was sentenced to at least 21 years in jail.

This story is devastating. Sadly, it is also not the first and it won't be the last story of its kind. There are many others about lesser, but serious crimes committed on unsuspecting teens and children who put their trust in online "friends."

Recently, Facebook admitted that up to 83 million profiles could be fake. At the same time, the Company also said there are millions of Facebook users deemed "undesirable."

It's critical that parents take time to educate their kids about "friending," chatting with, and meeting people online that they don't know. The consequences can be tragic.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.