I Lost My Trust in Social Media

I’ll apologize for this long post upfront, but it was hard to trim the details. I haven’t shared anything on my blog for over a year now and feel like I need to check this one off before moving on. I started 2021 feeling completely violated in the social media world and didn’t feel secure in posting new content. Although I’m ready to jump back in, this setback has me feeling like I’ve missed many opportunities to share stories and projects.

I often see Facebook posts from friends that say “My account was hacked. Don’t accept new friend requests from me.” I’ve learned that usually means their account was cloned, or duplicated, to look like it’s the same person, and that person still has access to their account. People, or soulless bots, or whomever does this are trying to gain access to you. I don’t completely understand the purpose of cloning someone, but I do know what it means to be fully hacked. There’s a big difference!

On January 22, 2021, a countless number of Facebook users were unexpectedly logged out of their accounts due to what Facebook called a “configuration change”. They reported that they had the issue fixed on January 23, however many people using two-step verification still had difficulty logging back into Facebook. I quickly realized I had bigger problems than receiving a delayed verification code. As I continued to attempt to reset my password and log in, I started receiving texts from friends asking if I was selling iPads on Facebook. The profile picture was mine, the account was mine, but the location was showing California, not Wisconsin. That’s when my husband said, “Your Facebook account has been hacked.” 

A sick feeling set in my stomach. With every text that came regarding a new post on another sale page, I felt violated, helpless, and frustrated! I told everyone I knew to flag my account as SPAM to get it locked. The account was locked pretty quickly, but getting it unlocked would prove to be quite the challenge. 

I scoured the internet for a customer service phone number, so I could talk to a live person at Facebook. My husband messaged Facebook directly through his account asking for guidance. We tagged Facebook on other social media platforms hoping for a response. All of these requests for help were unanswered. I went through their “help” pages again and again looking for the steps to “reset your account after it’s been hacked”. Strangely enough, most of the instructions included signing into your account first. UUUUMMMMM, that’s what I’m trying to do. This was beyond frustrating. And then…plot twist. 

Recognizing the hacker’s email address, I could see that it was my old hotmail address from years ago, the one I had originally used to set up my facebook account. I didn’t understand how my email had been changed back to my hotmail account knowing I had closed it long ago! I figured if I could reset that password I’d be golden in getting back into my account. 

Unfortunately, my answers to the security questions no longer matched those for the hotmail account. I reached out to Microsoft through a chat, of course, because remember, you don’t get to actually talk to real people when it comes to this stuff. They told me my email account had in fact been closed years ago. Then someone opened a new hotmail account using the same username I had previously used. They reassured me they no longer allow repeat usernames when creating accounts, but that didn’t help me in this situation.

I’m not a hacker, but I’m guessing a good one has the skills to find social media accounts linked to old email addresses after reestablishing that username. At this point, gaining access to the hotmail account was out; I had no connection to it anymore.

There was one option that I felt fairly confident in; submitting a photo ID. I went through the process of submitting my driver’s license and waited for an email. I received a link to reset my password, but everything still needed to pass the two-step verification. Of course my hacker had changed my recovery email and cell number to their own. So once again, I was at a dead end. 

Month after month I tried the photo ID method, commenting that I couldn’t get past the two-step verification. Month. After. Month. But I wasn’t going to give up. My life, my kids’ lives, were basically documented on my facebook wall. I treasured those pictures, videos, events, and am especially appreciative when memories pop up reminding me of things I’d forgotten all about. I loved my Facebook account. I didn’t need anyone else to see it; I just wanted access to those memories.

Finally, I decided to give it one more try. I submitted my photo ID, and commented very simply that I needed to reset my cell phone number back to the original cell phone number associated with the account in order to get past the two-step verification. I don’t know if I got someone in customer service that just finally read my comment and understood what I was saying, or if something about the process changed, but I got a different response this time!

I was sent another email that had the link to reset the password. But this time it included a temporary password, in case I was having trouble with the two-step verification. HELLO! Finally! I got one step further than I ever had. I tried the link, with the same dead end. Then I quickly started over and used the temporary password. Jackpot! Next, I was instructed that I would be shown five of my facebook friends and two of each of their photos, along with a list of names. I had to match at least three friends’ pictures to their names. Of course I passed and was finally back in! 

I immediately went to the settings and removed the hacker’s email address. I noticed there was no longer a cell phone number connected to the account, which made me curious to know if someone at Facebook removed it after reading my comment, but that’s just speculation. I set up all the security I could, including my own two-step with text verification. Now when I log in, bells and whistles go off everywhere. And I love it! It’s like all my devices are screaming, “We got you! No one is getting in here!” Finally, I went into Messenger and deleted the dozens of conversations from people on Facebook that were extremely close to getting scammed had I not gotten my account locked. That alone was terrifying!

Here’s the super short version of this story: I got hacked; I tried and tried to get back in; I felt like I lost my identity; I didn’t trust social media; I cried; I tried, tried, and tried again; I got back in.  I honestly felt like I lost traction with my blog and didn’t want to post anything that could have been compromised by someone else. Now I’m feeling rejuvenated, and maybe a break from the computer (and lots of fresh air) was just what I needed. I’m looking forward to sharing stories from the past year and beyond. Get ready for tales of crafts, construction, and chickens. Oh my!