Hackers are stealing Facebook accounts to con others out of thousands through fake sale listings.
The scammers will use the stolen accounts to convince friends of the victim to buy a non-existent product that they have listed online.
Erin Jackson from Texas discovered she was locked out of her account, then noticed someone was using it to post fake items for sale.
The listing claimed that her dad was moving into a care home and that she needed to sell items quickly to raise money.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, took days to fix the problem which meant hackers were given free reign on the platform – leaving other users exposed to fraud.
This type of scam, called “malvertising campaigns” are on the rise, with an average of 68,000 users searching for help with a hacked Facebook account on Google in the last year alone.
Hackers gain entry to accounts by placing online ads which promote games, adult content and other software to steal login data and gain access to browsing history and cookies.
Other similar hacking scams include making posts on Facebook that ask people to donate money to a funeral livestream that doesn’t exist.
Martin Richardson, senior partner at National Fraud Helpline, said: ‘More needs to be done by social media platforms to stop all sorts of fraud and scams.’
Lesa Lowery was impersonated by a hacker online for three days, who stole thousands of dollars from her friends from posts selling non-existent products.
She told CBC News: “‘I just felt helpless,’I literally sat there and cried.”
Hijacked accounts are a way for hackers to increase the number of people they can reach without needing to create their own Facebook accounts.
To protect their accounts, users should enable two-factor authentication and avoid suspicious links and ads.
The Daily Mail says it has reached out to Meta for comment.
Have you lost money to a scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.