Here at Red Stick Mom, we offer dozens of ideas from diverse perspectives in our mom hacks, tips and tricks category. From taking road trips from Baton Rouge to meatless meals to natural cold remedies, we’ve written about it.
Not all of Red Stick Mom’s mom hacks, tips and tricks include easy recipes or mom’s self-care. Maybe you are looking for a better way to store your family’s precious photo memories. Maybe a DIY home project like a Home Workout Corner is something you want to do. We even get intimate with other topics like why every mom should try period panties and the value of a nursing cart when there’s a newborn in your home. Then there are the times when we are stuck in a predicament, like a social media hacking.
Facebook Hacking is Happening to Everyone.
I know there are worse things in this world to worry about than having your social media accounts hacked. When it comes to having your entire business shut down as well as all your personal memories that were saved on your personal account, it can feel a bit devastating. I can tell you this on a personal level. It happened to me, and I know I am not alone. Facebook hacking is happening to everyone.
On January 8, 2022, my Facebook account was hacked. I can tell you exactly what I was doing when it happened. It wasn’t that I wasn’t aware of the possibility of being hacked. I knew as a content creator that there were individuals out there trying to hack to gain access to followers. I had deleted multiple emails from possible hackers.
This time was different, and I will never be the same.
My Facebook hacking story.
I had received an email that looked like a legit email from Facebook. The email address that it was sent from had Facebook.com in it. The email stated that I had gone against the Community Standards of Facebook and that my business Facebook page was about to be shut down. In order to stop it, I had to appeal. Of course, I was freaking out. I knew I hadn’t shared anything that would have put my business in jeopardy.
I quickly studied the email, and I didn’t see anything wrong with it. When I hovered over the link, it didn’t look corrupt either. So, I pressed the link. I was then taken to another page that looked like Facebook. Wild how these hackers can do this! It wanted me to fill out the appeal form. I filled it out and clicked enter. Then another box popped on the screen asking for me to enter my password for security purposes. I thought for a second, “That’s kind of odd since I am already on Facebook.” Then figured maybe it was something to do with the appeal process.
I entered my password and pressed enter. Then the box popped up on the screen again saying I had entered the wrong password. I knew I hadn’t entered it in wrong, but whatever. I entered my password again and hit enter. As soon as I hit enter, I had a sickening feeling in my stomach. I call it my intuition. It is like I knew something wasn’t right.
As I was standing in front of my computer, a notification popped up on my screen. It showed an image of a young male located in Croatia (it said his location). The notification was stating that this individual had been added to my business Facebook page as an admin. Say what?! This is when I knew.
It all goes downhill from here.
I quickly fumbled around, changing all my passwords. My heart dropped. I thought I was going to throw up. I looked down at my watch and realized I had to go and grab my oldest from basketball practice. I cried the entire drive to pick her up. By the time I got to the parking lot, there was nothing else I could do.
I tried to get onto my Business Manager to remove this new person but was unable to do so. Within a few minutes, my entire personal Facebook was disabled due to posts that went against the Facebook Community Standards that the hacker had shared. Since my business page and Instagram were all connected to my personal Facebook, they were disabled as well. I was unable to see or do anything about my accounts.
Later that evening, I got a message from Facebook saying that my ads were scheduled to run. What?! The hacker had scheduled ads to run from my business Facebook page. I hadn’t scheduled any ads. This was all obviously done by the hacker.
There is no help.
The rest of the nightmare is that you can’t get a hold of ANYONE at Facebook. I literally tried everything. This included sending a few emails throughout the day to [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Along with sending countless emails daily, I also sent support forms. I did not hear from any. Nothing. It is so disheartening to know that all that you do is gone, and you can’t even get help to fix it. I logged in every day to the same message saying that my accounts had been disabled until further notice.
There is no chat available or a number to call. From what I have heard, you have to either get lucky or know someone who works for Facebook to make sure your appeal and support forms are even viewed. Here is the Facebook Help main page. I started a help chat within my Meta Business Manager on my new Facebook page and did finally get someone from the Advertising Department to call me. They were able to reimburse the charges the hacker had charged to my account, but that was all the help they could do.
Be vigilant and aware.
Take it from me, you can never be too careful. Check all the addresses from senders when receiving emails from those you don’t know. It is sad that we have to do this, but we do. If you have a business Facebook page, make sure to add another admin. If your accounts are hacked, there is a better chance that you can switch everything over to the other admin. I am now fearful of any attached links that are emailed to me. This is even when they are legit. I have my husband double-check everything that is sent my way now.
