I’ve Been Hacked

Special to The Fayette County Record

I just discovered a new way a vacation can be ruined. My Facebook account was hacked. It was majorly hacked, not something that I could fix by changing mypassword.It felt like the hackers had radar for the right moment that I had my guard down. Kind of like when my kids are quiet until I get on the phone and then they haveall these “urgent” needs.I was with my mom and one of my brothers at Surfside Beach on vacation. My kids were visiting family in Florida. I had just got off a video chat with my kids and I have been missing them terribly. I was getting stuff together so my mom, my brother and I could walk to the beach. So I was distracted and emotional. That’s when the hacker swooped in.

I got a message from a good friend of mine asking for my phone number. They needed my help to get into their Facebook. I didn’t think much of it and sent them my phone number. Then they asked for the code that I got in my text message because they needed a friend to “approve” them. I sent them the code and that is when it started clicking in that something wasn’t right. I jokingly asked “Is it really you or did someone hack into your account?” Then I got an email about a password reset and was logged out of my Facebook. I felt stupid, I should know better, I used to work in technical support. I’musually so careful.The panic began, they changed everything… my password, my recovery email, my phone number... all gone. I tried to figure out how to get back my account through my Facebook app on my phone. No luck. I got texts from friends saying they thought I got hacked. One of my best friends called me and let me know that she got a weird message from me. I explained the situation and she went into action. She is extremely resourceful and great at finding answers to things. She sent me links, they didn’t work at getting stuff sorted through my phone. I tried to call Facebook. They don’t have a call center, just an email for law enforcement to contact them. I called the Surfside police department and spoke to someone. The dispatcher, although sympathetic, said there was nothing they coulddo.

Turn to Gifford,