Beware of new Facebook scam — How to secure your page now

❗ New Facebook scam hijacks your page

❗ Scammers entice friends to send money

❗ Do this to keep your page secure

Recently, I noticed a post on a friend’s Facebook page that indicated she was having an estate sale.

There were a lot of really cool items listed in the post and the prices seemed very reasonable. The friend was asking for a deposit to hold the items. I wasn’t at all suspicious.

However, when I reached out via text to get more information, my friend didn’t know what I was talking about.

Her page had been hacked. Scammers had set this whole thing up to con people out of money.

It was working.

For those that sent deposit money to the scammers, that's money they will never see again.

Even scarier is the fact that these scammers were giving out my friend’s address, potentially putting her family in danger.

In the weeks that followed this hacker attack, at least two other Facebook friends had their pages hijacked in the same way.

Even the most cautious users are finding themselves victims of these scams as the hackers get more sophisticated in their takeover techniques.

Sophisticated enterprise

Hacking Facebook pages is nothing new and scammers are always coming up with new and dastardly ways to try and separate you from your money.

They keep doing it because it works.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates scams originating on social media have accounted for $2.7 billion in reported losses since 2021. That is more than any other contact method. Potentially billions more in losses go unreported.

In the case of Facebook, and other social media pages, once the scammers gain control of your page, they quickly change passwords, email addresses and entry points so you cannot regain control of your own page.

They make fraudulent posts on your page and send fraudulent messages to your friends.

Don’t rely on Facebook to help

If you think Facebook can or will help you, you may be mistaken.

That was certainly the case with my friends who fell victim to this type of hacker attack.

It is extremely difficult to reach Facebook or parent company Meta to try and resolve issues like this.

My friend’s ordeal involved weeks of reporting the fraud, friends of friends reporting the fraud and failed attempts to regain control of the personal page.

Since hackers had changed the page’s authentication email, they were able to thwart all attempts to get the scam post taken down and continued to solicit money.

Even when you report the fraud to Facebook, you have to check generic reasons why you believe it is fraud. There is no space to tell what is actually happening.

That is because most of the fraud reports are reviewed by technology, and not an actual human being putting eyeballs on the page.

New Jersey 101.5 reached out to Meta multiple times to try and discuss this situation and as of this writing they have not responded.

The best defense is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

How do I secure my Facebook page from scammers?

Nothing is 100% foolproof, but there are steps experts say you should be taking to make it very difficult for scammers to gain access to your page.

Scammers are looking for an easy takeover, so the more difficult you make it, the more likely they will leave you alone and move on to someone else.

Keep your password unique (not used on other sites) and do not share it with anyone.

Make sure your cell phone number and email contact information is up-to-date on your Facebook account.

Your best defense is to set up a two-factor authentication and get alerts from unrecognized logins.

Even though Facebook and Meta have yet to respond to multiple requests for comment for this article, there are security recommendations listed on their help pages.

Set up two-factor authentication and other security options

✔ With two-factor authentication, you'll be asked to enter a special login code each time someone tries to access your account from a browser or mobile device we don't recognize.

✔ If you're logged into Facebook on a computer, you can use Security Checkup to review your security settings or to set up two factor authentication.

✔ You can also get alerts about unrecognized logins.

 So what happened in this case?

After weeks of complaints being filed to Facebook, Meta finally took the scam page down.

Unfortunately, the damage had already been done.

The page had been shared outside my friend’s personal friend network.

Her home address has been shared.

Her friends are out money.

Her page was also filled with wonderful memories of family and friends, vacations, experiences and adventures.

Facebook has not returned control of her page, and now she worries those photos have been lost.

She urges everyone who has a Facebook or other social media page to make sure it is secure so you don’t become the next victim.

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