BELLEVILLE, Mich. – Scammers are hacking into people’s Facebook accounts and posting items for sale as a way to steal money from would-be buyers.
A Belleville woman is one of many Facebook users to have their account hacked. Karen started getting messages from strangers on her Facebook account asking for an address to pick up furniture. She was confused until she looked at her page and realized hackers had listed items for sale.
“It was upsetting and I felt violated. Very violated,” she said. “There was nothing I could do and I knew these people were getting scammed and I felt helpless.”
Karen said the people who had been scammed were sending her angry messages, not knowing that she had been a victim too.
Scammers even took things a step further by contacting her actual friends on Facebook and asking for money. At least one friend was eager to help and he lost the money he thought he was loaning to his friend.
“It said, you know, ‘Can I borrow $200 until tomorrow and then he tried calling me and didn’t get ahold of me so he just went ahead and sent the money,” Karen said.
You can help protect your Facebook account by checking your security settings and making sure you have two-factor authentication set up. Karen is warning Facebook users to be careful who you respond to. She realized her account was hacked because she responded to a message from someone who had also been hacked.
If your Facebook account has been hacked you should contact your local police department and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.