Hackers are ruthless. On October 5th, my FB Business page was hijacked, and I lost control of my ad campaign. I was frantic, but I became Meta Verified to get help. Then, a supposed Meta Facebook Verified Customer Service called, saying we needed to act fast to catch the hackers.
They took me through a series of actions, including accessing my accounts and claiming that it was necessary to create activity to catch the hackers. I became increasingly uneasy, but they kept reassuring me that this was the way to resolve the issue.
During this process, my emotions went from fear to confusion. However, as I later realized, it was all part of their manipulative scheme. They kept me on the phone, insisting that I withdraw money and drive to a Bitcoin ATM.
Ultimately, I did not follow through, but the experience left me shaken. It was a scam, and they were experts at emotional manipulation. The relentless calls from these scammers only added to the fear.
Finally, they stopped calling, but I find myself in a three-week battle with PayPal and Venmo, trying to reclaim my money and regain control of my Facebook business page. It's been a tremendously stressful and painful ordeal, and I want to share the lessons I've learned:
File a police report as evidence.
Big banks are more supportive in such situations.
Be wary of unsolicited calls; legitimate companies usually communicate via email.
Consider subscribing to Meta FB for added account support and protection.
Understand the limitations of PayPal's fraud coverage.
Venmo's Purchase Protection may not cover fraud; their customer support can be challenging.
While cash apps are convenient, they may not take responsibility for fraudulent transactions.
Consider using safer options like Zelle for money transfers.
Implement 2-factor authentication for added security.
And as for LifeLock, you might wonder why it didn't alert me. It's a valid question. LifeLock is designed to monitor and protect against certain types of identity theft and fraud. In my case, the scammers went through me, making it appear as my activity. This made it more challenging for LifeLock to detect fraudulent transactions as they seemed legitimate on the surface.
In this age of cyber threats, knowledge is power. Stay vigilant and keep your money safe.
