Geoff Edwards considered himself a sophisticated internet user, but now he considers himself a cautionary tale.

Hackers, he害羞草研究所檚 recently discovered, are capable of fooling anyone. He learned that lesson the hard way when he lost his Facebook account, and now he害羞草研究所檚 warning others.

It can happen to you too.

害羞草研究所淣one of us realize what shaky ground we stand on with this platform,害羞草研究所� Edwards said. 害羞草研究所淪omebody can send you an email and you can make one wrong move and your whole Facebook world comes crashing down.害羞草研究所�

For Edwards, who害羞草研究所檚 been on Facebook since 2009, the nightmare started May 28, 2022.

He woke up to a notification email, telling him someone had accessed his Facebook account at 3:46 a.m. that morning, using a different device than his tablet. The email asked him to verify that it was him.

It looked totally legit, so Edwards clicked through all the procedures to prove his identity and secure his account.

害羞草研究所淭hey send a code to your phone, you enter that code at the website and you害羞草研究所檙e back on Facebook again,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淚 carried on with my day and when I came back in later that day I had Facebook advising me that my videos were ready to view.

害羞草研究所淎nd I thought to myself, 害羞草研究所榃hat videos?害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟

This email had links to 17 of them, all uploaded within two minutes of each other.

Edwards didn害羞草研究所檛 dare click on any of the links, but next thing he knew he was looking at another email, with Facebook saying his account was suspended, he害羞草研究所檇 breached community standards and he had 30 days to dispute it.

The problem at that point was, there was no way to dispute it. He couldn害羞草研究所檛 find any humans to talk to, only unhelpful links.

害羞草研究所淓ach link I tried sent me to that Facebook screen saying my account was suspended and I had 30 days to respond,害羞草研究所� Edwards said. 害羞草研究所淚 did find one link to people who are concerned about data breaches through Facebook. I wrote an email and actually got a human being who told me it wasn害羞草研究所檛 their department and they couldn害羞草研究所檛 help me.

害羞草研究所淪omewhere in there was a phone number in California to try, but no one answers. It害羞草研究所檚 just a voice recording.害羞草研究所�

As if that害羞草研究所檚 not bad enough, Edwards also got hit in the pocketbook.

He had a long-dormant PayPal account, still attached to Facebook and linked to his bank account. Whoever hacked his account bought Facebook advertising and he was tagged for $328.

害羞草研究所淭hey didn害羞草研究所檛 get my credit card information, because that expired, otherwise they could have drained that account too,害羞草研究所� Edwards said. 害羞草研究所淎s it is, I害羞草研究所檝e had to go through a bunch of business with my bank and register with Western Union and Equifax and that sort of thing, in case they try to do anything else.害羞草研究所�

Edwards is far from the only person to be fooled by phishing emails, although he still struggles to understand what exactly triggered the hack.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檝e looked at the emails over and over and I still can害羞草研究所檛 tell which one might be a phishing email,害羞草研究所� he said.

But a Google search using terms like Facebook hack or suspended will produce similar tales.

When he went to the RCMP to open a file after discovering the bank fraud, he said to an officer, 害羞草研究所淚 can害羞草研究所檛 believe they got me.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淎nd his response was, 害羞草研究所楧on害羞草研究所檛 kick yourself too hard about it. They害羞草研究所檙e professionals and they have a knack for making things look almost identical to a message from Facebook.害羞草研究所�

In most cases, there害羞草研究所檚 no happy ending to this scenario. Once a Facebook account is compromised, there害羞草研究所檚 no getting it back.

For Edwards, an actor and audio/video content producer (streamworks.ca and geoffedwards.media), the lost account means lost contacts. There are 600 or so people he害羞草研究所檚 connected with over the years. Those contacts are gone. He害羞草研究所檚 thankful to still have his Twitter handle (@geoffedwards) with 1,100-plus followers, but Facebook appears to be a total writeoff.

害羞草研究所淎t this point I害羞草研究所檇 have to create a whole new identify on Facebook, and I don害羞草研究所檛 know if I want to,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淏ut if I were back on Facebook today I害羞草研究所檇 tell people on there to nail down their account, be very cautious about what they click on and don害羞草研究所檛 depend on Facebook alone for your social media presence.

害羞草研究所淏eing on Facebook is a necessary evil these days because that害羞草研究所檚 where you connect with your customers and your community, and that害羞草研究所檚 where employers go to find out about you, but you need to be hyper-alert with any e-mails claiming to be from Facebook, or any social media platform for that matter.害羞草研究所�

eric.welsh@hopestandard.com
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