A Go Public investigation discovered that Meta has allowed a scam campaign to flourish on Facebook, as fraudsters lock users out of their accounts and mimic them.
According to the CBC, Lesa Lowery is one of the many victims. For three days, she watched helplessly as Facebook scammers duped her friends out of thousands of dollars for counterfeit things. Her Facebook account was taken in early March.
Lowery had her account hacked after changing her password in response to a Facebook-like email. The scammer locked her out, costing her friends $2,500. Many of Lowery's friends reported the incident to Facebook, but Meta did not. The scammer removed warnings and blocked friends. Lowery's ex-neighbor, Carol Stevens, lost $250 in the swindle.
Are Meta’s efforts enough?
Claudiu Popa, author of "The Canadian Cyberfraud Handbook," lambasted Meta for generating billions but failing to secure users, despite the fact that Meta's sales increased 16% to $185 billion last year.
Meta wrote Go Public, stating that it has "over 15,000 reviewers across the globe" to fix breaches, but did not explain why the retirement home fraud proceeded.
Popa, a cybercrime specialist, believes that fraudsters employ AI to identify victims and create convincing emails. According to Sapio Research, 85% of cybersecurity professionals believe that AI-powered assaults have increased.
In March, 41 US state attorneys general stated that Meta assisted customers as the number of Facebook account takeovers increased. Meta indicated that it attempted to fix the issue but did not disclose specifics. Credential stuffing assaults and data breaches can result in account takeovers and dump sales.
According to The Register, Meta was taken over by Facebook via phone number recycling in the US. New telecom customers receive abandoned numbers without being disconnected from the previous owner's accounts. An outdated number may get a password reset request or a two-factor authentication token, potentially allowing unauthorised access.
Meta is aware of phone number recycling-related account takeovers; however, the social media giant noted that it "does not have control over telecom providers" reissuing phone numbers, and that users who had phone numbers linked to their Facebook accounts were no longer registered with them.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts propose that the government take measures to address Facebook account takeovers. According to Popa, companies like Meta rely on legislation to protect users and respond fast to fraud.
