Facebook Scams, Account Takeovers Are On The Rise

By this point, almost everyone knows that scams and fake accounts are an unfortunately common occurrence on Facebook. However, recent reports and studies have indicated that this kind of annoying and harmful content is on the rise, with social media takeover complaints increasing by more than 1,000% last year.

When a Facebook account is taken over, the bad actors behind the hack often spam the victim’s friends with shady links or use their accounts to purchase ads. To make matters worse, Facebook makes it exceedingly difficult for users to regain access to their accounts after they have been compromised. Some experts say that this is indicative of the company’s too-casual approach to privacy and security.

“If you’re going to be somebody who opens up a company who’s going to be providing these kinds of services, your number one priority has to be privacy and security first, and then everything else can follow,” author and former radio personality Chris Ingram said. “Unfortunately, I think, we’ve certainly got the cart before the horse. We have all these platforms, but who’s taking care of your security? Who’s taking care of your privacy? I don’t think anybody really is. Frankly, I think the efforts are lame.”

Up until now, Facebook has shown little to no interest in investing in human customer service. However, that simple step could save the company a lot of headaches when it comes to helping hacked users regain control of their online lives.




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