Hacked on Facebook, 5 Precautions to Take

Hacked on Facebook, 5 Precautions to Take

Horrified. Violated. Infuriated…that is what it feels like to be hacked!

My Facebook account was hacked this past weekend. I had heard all the stories from other people but had never imagined in a million years that it would happen to me. Well it did. I was looking at my Facebook news feed after church, just about to eat lunch with my family when I saw a “Sponsored” post by Lovely You Blog (my Facebook blog page) for clearance Ray Ban Sunglasses. I did a double take…like is this for real because I didn’t sponsor a post like that!

At the same time, my hubs says, “There’s a charge on our account for $50 from Facebook, is that for the Homeschool stuff you’re doing?”. Um no, I said. Because my ad that I recently placed for something that I was doing for Homeschool was only $3. And that’s generally the highest amount that I will spend to boost a post is $3. Next thing I know my hubs tells me that a charge for over $250 just hit our account! My appetite left me and I felt SICK and all kinds of emotions were raging within me!

First of all, I immediately changed my password while my hubs called the bank. Then I looked around Facebook to see what was going on. I went to my Ad Manager and saw that an ad was set-up for this clearance Ray Ban Sunglasses site for a crazy amount…the link associated brings up this site below. So, I made sure to change the ad to “inactive”. A total budget for the promotion of $84,000.00. Really…really!

Looks like they had tried a small amount of money first then moved to the larger amounts. I have no idea how I was targeted and if I was or not. I DO know that one of my Facebook friends was hacked the previous week and I received an invite for an online party for the clearance Ray Ban Sunglasses site. She sent out a post saying that she was hacked by the site and that she did not send out the invite. So I don’t know that it is connected but it seems to be. So, I’m sending this out to let you know of some ways to Not Get Hacked!

5 Precautions to Take:

1. Use a pre-paid card. Do not attach a business/personal account to your Facebook account. I hate that I hadn’t thought of this before. Instead of connecting your banking/checking account to a “public” site like Facebook, use a pre-paid card instead like a pre-paid Visa. That way, if your account gets hacked (God forbid) at least it would only be a small amount and it would not affect your overall business or personal finances.
2. Change your password. In corporate America, I was required to change my password at a specific frequency in order to maintain a higher level of security. Well the same should be with your home business. Set up a frequency in which you change all of your passwords. It is a pain but it is definitely worth it. Unfortunately, I had the same password for an extended period of time.
3. Monitor your account. Each time that you log in, be sure to check to see if any of your settings have been changed. For instance, check to see if your notifications have been changed and even your spending limit. These are things that I noticed after the fact that have been changed. The hacker had my settings to a point where the ad that they setup wasn’t even posted to my page and all notifications for any activity regarding payment, schedule, billing was turned off.
4. Don’t click on FB invites. Even if it is from a friend. Ask your friend first to make sure that it has been sent from them and then still proceed cautiously. If it is for an event that you may be interested in…I wouldn’t even click on it, just make a side note of it.
5. Spread the Word. Tell everyone that sites like Facebook are not as secure as you think. Spread the Word that we as small business owners should take even more precaution when our banking information is involved.

Unfortunately, there is not much you can do if you are hacked on Facebook.  Contact your bank and contact Facebook and ‘wait’ for them to investigate and resolve the issue. I’m currently praying and waiting! And It sucks BIG time! To alert my readers, I sent out a post to my viewers and friends letting them know that there’s a post out there that DID NOT come from me and to not click on it!

If I had taken the pre-cautions that I’ve mentioned above, I really feel that I would have had a better chance of NOT being hacked! And, I will definitely be posting a follow up to let you guys know how Facebook and my bank responds to this horrific act of cyber violence.