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One local business owner recently had her Facebook account hacked and says it's been a struggle to get help.
Lindsay Liebman's business Facebook Page, Paper and Posh, is currently disabled.
"So I mean, at this point, I can't market. I can't advertise and I can't communicate with my clients via Facebook Messenger," said Liebman.
She said she was first alerted after getting an email from Facebook saying her password had been changed.
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"I realized very quickly that the hacker had not only changed my email address and my password, but they had also set up two-factor authentication," Liebman said.
The hacker had complete control of her account. Liebman said she went through a maze of online tutorials to figure out what to do. She couldn't get a person on the phone or in a live chat.
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"It became like a cat and mouse game with me and this hacker. It took days, we were back and forth, and back and forth," added Liebman
Then, she turned to Action News and we contacted Facebook.
Facebook says their inquiries can take days if not weeks. The company says if you have your account hacked, you need to go to https://www.facebook.com/hacked. It'll walk you through the steps to regain control of your account. But users should not expect it to happen immediately.
The lesson here: turn on two-factor authentication. It'll prevent your account from being compromised. Also, remember to change your password frequently.
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"I should know that, and I do have two-factor on, you know, several other accounts. But I mean, who cares about you know, Lindsay Liebman or Paper and posh, but they do and they found me and they got in," she said.
Why the hacker wanted access to Liebman's account is unclear.
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She does have a PayPal account attached to it, but it was not compromised.
Facebook provided a statement to Action News that reads:
Statement:
"We understand how challenging it can be for small businesses to face any type of business disruption and take the interruptions that have affected Paper & Posh seriously. Our system automatically locked this account after detecting suspicious activity, and now we're providing support so the account owner can regain access. We encourage everyone to keep their account secure with two-factor authentication and doing a free security checkup at facebook.com/safety." - Facebook company spokesperson
Additional Information:
- If an account holder becomes locked out of their account, they can visit https://www.facebook.com/hacked for steps to regain access.
- Facebook will never ask you for your password in an email or Facebook message.
- Facebook has also provided tips and best practices to keep small businesses secure while working from home.
- https://www.facebook.com/business/news/tips-to-keep-facebook-instagram-business-accounts-secure