SOCIAL
Facebook ‘unable’ to help business after hackers seize account
Braden Fastier/Stuff
Amy Cunningham and Benjamin Clark of Benjamin Black Goldsmith are scrambling for solutions after their Facebook page was hacked.
Social media giant Meta says it is “unable” to help a Nelson business whose Facebook page has been hacked.
Benjamin Black Goldsmiths director Amy Cunningham had a sleepless night after discovering hackers had accessed the jewellery business’s Facebook page.
Locked out of the account, Cunningham discovered the hackers had reactivated some old advertisements and are attempting to run a $24,000 advertising campaign through her account.
She’s cancelled their credit card, but the ads are still running, which could leave her in debt to Facebook.
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Cunningham has tried every avenue: reporting the page, attempting to recover the account and going to government cybersecurity body CERT. She’s scoured the internet for contacts at Facebook, but no one has replied to her requests for help.
“It’s really stressful,” she said.
After trial and error gleaned over 10 years of building up their business, Cunningham found Facebook advertising the most effective way to market Benjamin Black’s jewellery range, especially their signet rings.
Now, they are wondering if they made the right choice.
“We spend thousands on Facebook every month,” Cunningham said. “It’s massive; without [access to our account] we don’t have any business.”
Cunningham’s security on the social media platform was “robust”, and she was unsure what she could’ve done differently, she said.
“I had multi-level authentification; everything that Facebook asked me to do, I did. Despite having that, they still managed to hack me.”
The jewellery business is not alone: other companies have spoken out about similar incidents, saying that Meta has been slow to act, and in some cases, cost them thousands.
In January, Nelson auctioneer Warwick Savage was subject to a form of identity theft after someone set up personal and business Facebook pages in his name. Meta stepped in after queries from Stuff, taking down the pages.
However, this time, they were unable to help.
A spokesperson from Pursuit PR, who represent Meta in New Zealand, said: “Meta is unable to look into this case”. Requests for clarification were not answered.
