Fraudsters target MH17 victims on Facebook

Fraudsters have set up at least six fake Facebook pages in the names of Australian MH17 victims in an effort to profit from people's grief.

The scam webpages each contain a link to another site which claims to contain information on the Malaysia Airlines plane shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Users are then bombarded with a series of pop-up ads for a range of dubious services such as fake charities.

Three of the fake pages were set-up in the names of the young West Australian children killed in the air disaster.

Relatives of victim Liliane Derden told The Canberra Times they have now deleted Ms Derden's personal Facebook page to avoid confusion.

"We don't know who's out there doing it and we'd prefer that they know the truth and people aren't giving to charities or whatever the people are proposing to be," Ms Derden's close friend Carly Taylor said.

Director of the University of Canberra's Centre for Internet Safety, Alastair MacGibbon, said the "click-fraud" schemes were common in the wake of major events and disasters.