CYPRESS, Texas — A Cypress woman said someone stole her Facebook account and used it to scam others. At least one person lost $500. Now she’s hoping others don’t get scammed and she can recover the account.
The woman said she tried the usual recommendation -- resetting her password to regain access to the account -- but she’s still locked out.
Days passed before it appeared that Meta finally took action. Erin Jackson wanted to check her Facebook page on Friday but couldn’t log in. Then she started getting the messages.
“My friends and family reached out saying, 'Why did you make this post?'” Jackson said.
The post in question said her dad was moving into an aged care facility and she needed to sell his belongings from his home. It says, in part, “If you pay a deposit now, I won’t open talk with anyone else about it.”
“They were nice things ... a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a golf cart,” Jackson said.
She said her dad wasn’t moving and he didn’t own any of the items in the first place. Others didn’t know that and at least one person sent $500 to the scammer.
“Of course, none of this was me. But it was very believable to my friends and even some of my family members because my father is older and has had health problems. It's something that wouldn't have been a shock to anyone,” she said.
Another friend nearly fell for the bait and asked the hacker where she could pick up one of the items, but the scammer had done their homework.
“It was actually an address that belongs to me, which is really scary,” she said.
Jackson managed to track down the scammer to a PayPal account. When she reached out to them, they essentially said good luck getting your account back. We reached out to Meta but we haven’t received a response.
The FBI recommends changing your passwords if you use the same one on different sites. Other recommendations include adding two-factor authentication for your accounts. It’s recommended to never click on suspicious links on social media or in your email.