Facebook tricks | On Christmas Eve, a non-victim of a rude scam: Facebook doesn’t do mundane things to help people

I SMS column at Tidens Krav On Christmas Eve, this was the warning from a woman from Nordmoor:

– On Facebook and Messenger, there is often a message from some of your friends to send your phone number. Please don’t do that. These are the hackers who may have stolen names from someone and keep trying to scam your name. I myself was too stupid to give a phone number, and now my account and my name are used. They ask more about your banking details. I made a new facebook page myself and tried to delete the old one. So I ask everyone: Don’t send your phone number without calling your friend first!

There are currently many reports of fraud and fraud attempts across the country. Tidens Krav himself was the victim of a computer attack on the Amedia Group, which means that no paper was published on Wednesday or Thursday.

Avisa Nordland He spoke with Geir Johnson, who experienced the same thing the North Sea woman described to TK readers. It’s Christmas for him: the scammers have completely changed their identity so that all communications on Geir Johnsen’s Facebook profile are now transmitted through them.

He was previously among the skeptics of Facebook, but acknowledged that it is still difficult to get around the platform as a channel of communication. Now, however, it is over.

cunning

«Hello, can you give me your phone number?

On Christmas Eve, Jer Johnson suddenly received this message from one of his Facebook friends. Someone he refers to as trustworthy. With the Christmas holiday’s shoulders lowered, Johnson gives the person the phone number.

You may be wondering why you asked, but I didn’t wonder enough on Christmas Eve to ask why. My phone number was never secret. As he says, I’ve had the same number since the beginning of the ’90s Avisa Nordland.

Still on Christmas mode, Johnson is said to have fallen in love with the charming attack of crooks again.

Because when the phone number was sent, a Facebook friend then told that Johnsen would receive a message about a contest he was in.

He was encouraged to send the code that he would receive on his mobile phone so that any prizes could be shared between them. Johnson was skeptical, but sent a screenshot of the code.

He shouldn’t do that.

The code he sent was most likely the binary code for his Facebook account.

When a Facebook friend asked about the card’s details, doubts turned a real red light for Johansen. He had no doubts what would happen.

– When I realized that I was dealing with scammers, I wrote to them “Damn you thieves!”

Johnson says that all of the correspondence was well written in Norwegian and appeared to be original.

lost access

Only when her stepdaughter told Johnson that he had sent a message and asked for her phone number on Christmas Day did it become clear to Johnson that his account had been taken over by hackers. He himself lost all access.

Most of the day was spent notifying friends and acquaintances that they did not have to respond to messages from him. Johnsen does not have an overview of how many people may have been affected by the attempted scam from his old profile.

I asked all my friends to post a warning on their Facebook profile. I also sent a bunch of warning text messages.

Meanwhile, hackers maintain high activity. No later than on the third birthday, one of his daughters received a letter from his stolen account.

Johnson says he also has information that at least one of his Facebook friends fell into the trap and provided the card information to the hackers.

clear text

Johnsen is starting to regain control of his old profile on FB. He says he had to create a new profile to connect with Facebook in an effort to clean up the scam. Johnson has not yet been able to control his old account.

Both his acquaintances and Johnson himself reported to Facebook that his accounts had been hacked. Johnson sees Facebook not taking it seriously or identity theft.

I wrote in clear text to Facebook and explained that my original profile had been misused, but received no response, says Johnson.

Johnson is concerned about how difficult it will be to properly inform Facebook.

According to the site slettmeg.no Facebook relies on communication via its contact forms which are meant to solve specific issues. Facebook cannot be contacted via email or phone.

monopoly

Johnson is not generous in his criticism of Facebook after the events of the past few days. Everyone will be very wary of the podium.

Facebook is a monopoly that misuses the information they obtain to grow their own finances and algorithms, Johnson claims.

rages on:

Facebook doesn’t do mundane things to help people. What she did have is identity theft that Facebook doesn’t seem to take seriously. They don’t have a red button that we can press, where we can get help when something like this happens.

Johnsen now plans to delete himself from Facebook, once he can stop the hackers. He states that he also arranged an appointment with the police to report identity theft.

Facebook responds

Facebook has received the story and criticism from Johnsen. Among other things, the company has been asked to comment on the company’s handling of Johnson’s case and the criticisms he is making.

A spokesperson for Meta (Facebook’s new company name) responds to this in an email:

We will investigate further what happened to Geir Johnsen’s profile. Unfortunately, this may take a while this Christmas.

A Meta spokesperson further wrote that there have been several instances this year where people’s personal files have been hacked. The spokesperson explains that the company therefore has an ongoing campaign that will encourage people to create two-step billing, as well as secure their passwords.

– Meta also set up one List of five simple steps You can do to make your account more secure, the speaker concludes.