Wed, 16 Apr 2025

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 'Getting Instagram to fix my account was almost traumatising'

Small businesses say Meta is not helping them recover their hacked Instagram and Facebook accounts.

* A UK wedding dress designer, Catherine Deane, had her company's Instagram account hacked after a member of her social media team fell victim to a phishing scam.
* The hack resulted in the loss of control over the account for four months, with Deane having to fight with Meta (Facebook) to get it back.
* Cyber security expert Jonas Borchgrevink says that hacking business accounts on Instagram and Facebook is a "massive problem" affecting thousands of companies every day.
* Hackers use various methods to gain control of business social media accounts, including phishing scams, password cracking, and exploiting vulnerabilities in Meta's systems.
* Scammers often target personal Facebook pages first, then transfer admin rights to their own profiles or fake ones.
* Some businesses have reported losing access to their Facebook and Instagram accounts without being hacked, either due to errors by Meta or its security measures.
* Digital marketer Chetha Senadeera's company had a Facebook page removed for allegedly violating scams policies, but he disputes that the firm posted any harmful content.
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