Getting Hacked CAN Happen to You

On New Year’s Eve, broker Erica Ramus clicked on the Facebook icon on her phone.

The Pottsville Realtor® couldn’t get in. When she went to reset her password, it was being redirected to her an email address that wasn’t hers. Soon thereafter, Ramus realized a hacker had gotten into her Facebook account and changed all of her information. And she still can’t get in, more than three months later.

Despite repeated attempts to contact Facebook and paying a “trusted source” to help get her account back, Ramus said she was still unable to access her account. And her account was more than just pictures, friends and birthday wishes. As a Realtor®, her account was the key to her business page and a private group of her agents. Prior to being hacked, Ramus said she was spending a decent sum marketing on Facebook. She said she spent more than $1,000 a month on Facebook ads and the hacker was able to run ads via her account, since it was linked to her PayPal. And the hacker wasn’t exactly running positive ads on her behalf. Fortunately, Ramus quickly realized and was able to disable her PayPal and changed all of her passwords to credit cards and banking sites.

How did Ramus get hacked? She said she thinks from letting an old domain expire, allowing the hacker to buy it, renew the website name and then create a new email address where her Facebook updates were now going. Her hacker wanted money or access to her ad platform, Ramus said she believes.

What to do? Enable two-factor authentication on any sites that would cause you distress if you lost them, she advised.

After weeks with no response from Facebook, Ramus reluctantly started new pages. Her old pages still stand.