When a reputable martial arts instructor posts child exploitation content on his Facebook page and spends a lot of money on Vietnamese ads for angler rods, something is obviously wrong.
However, according to Jihad Bekai, head of the G-Force martial arts school in Melbourne, it has been utterly hard to persuade Facebook's owner Meta of that.
Bekai was a victim of Facebook hackers last month. They employed a well-known and popular ruse that involves uploading images of child sexual assault on a user's personal Facebook page.
As a result, Facebook automatically responds by banning the user for breaking its 'community standards.' While the user is occupied with the aftermath and attempting to regain access to Facebook, the hackers pursue their true objective, which is typically a credit card connected to a business page the user manages.
In addition, Bekai claimed he had been caught in a frustrating feedback loop with Facebook, whose online customer service forms fail to recognize the absurdity of his situation. Over the course of a month, the hackers ran up more than 50 charges totaling more than $1000 on Bekai's credit card for Facebook ads.
Bekai asked, "If their artificial intelligence is so good that it can detect child pornography, why can't it put two and two together and realize it would be unusual for me to be doing 10 years of martial arts videos and suddenly decide child pornography is my thing, so much so that I want to display it online for everyone to see in a public post."
The martial arts school of Bekai only uses social media for advertising. One of the main ways potential consumers learn about his company is through his Facebook profile. Bekai lost access to the Facebook and Instagram accounts for his martial arts school. He also oversees a Melbourne martial arts competition and a cafe. He is no longer able to access such social media profiles.
Hackers gained access
Bekai claimed that the thing that aggravates him the most about being a target of Facebook hackers is that he appeared to take all the necessary precautions to protect his accounts. He claimed that the hackers seem to have gained access to his accounts by somehow designating themselves as an admin on his Facebook Commerce account, which brings together personal and business sites as well as credit cards in one location.
The email, which Bekai initially dismissed as spam, was then followed by another informing her that a second person had been added to the account. He claimed that out of desperation, he had turned to a lawyer to draft a legal notice to Meta on his behalf. He had also reported the incident to the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) but has not yet heard back.
In Australia, the ACSC is receiving reports of cybercrime once every seven minutes as the number of incidents rises, according to a report released on Friday. It is important to note that major social media companies have faced criticism in the past for fake news, hate speech, and misinformation that spread on their platforms. There have also been repeated calls to hold these companies more accountable.
