Ransomware Groups Are Using Hacked Facebook Pages To Pressure Their Victims Into Paying

Facebook is an invaluable tool for people around the world to connect with one another. However, that also means cybercriminals can more easily take advantage of users. The latest fraudulent scheme circulating on Facebook involves ransomware groups hacking Facebook accounts in order to publish ads that pressure their victims into paying up.

According to a recent report from Krebs on Security, an ad campaign recently began appearing on Facebook that was “paid for” by a DJ based in Chicago. (Of course, the hackers stole his account and bought advertisements with his money.) The ads were designed to pressure the Italian beverage company Campari into paying a ransom after its systems were recently hacked.

For its part, Campari issued a statement, saying “at this stage, we cannot completely exclude that some personal and business data has been taken.” However, the hackers weren’t having any of the Italian company’s excuses.

“This is ridiculous and looks like a big fat lie,” the hackers wrote on the hijacked Facebook page. “We can confirm that confidential data was stolen and we talking about a huge volume of data.”

Unfortunately, there’s very little chance for victims like the Chicago DJ to ever get their money back in scams like this. All we can do as users is remain vigilant, and report any ads that seem suspicious.




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