June IWSG: Idle Hands

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 42 Comments



You know the saying: idle hands are the devil's playground. It seems idle platforms are the playgrounds of devilish hackers. My sadly neglected Facebook author page was hijacked by hackers who turned my verified (the accounts with the blue checks...the ones Facebook verifies as authentic) author account into a clothing store. They renamed Elizabeth Seckman, Author to simply Seckman. 
My kids were the first to notice and messaged me bright and early asking me if I thought I was Madonna.  
No, I'm no Madonna, but the ensuing back and forth with my virtual intruders was a real mother. They would remove me as admin. I'd petition Facebook for my rights back so I could remove them. They'd be gone for about an hour and then they'd be back. 
It was time consuming and frustrating. 
 I changed my account password and email passwords about twenty times an hour. Nothing helped. The hackers kept adding admins faster than I could delete them. Facebook was zero help, so I called my niece who is professionally computer savvy. She combed through the account and decided the hacker wasn't getting access through my email or Facebook account. Her guess was that they were granted access to the page by Facebook by petitioning for ownership of an idle page.  
I filed a copyright complaint with Facebook and they informed me that if I wanted to follow through with the complaint, they'd have to delete my page entirely. That stunk because that meant starting over. I didn't want to start over, but I also didn't want my verified status used to scam unsuspecting users. Someone sees a blue check and they assume the page is legit. 
At least that's what I assume they wanted the page for. They wanted a  "legit" page to do "business" from. 


Facebook did send me a notice that I was removed as admin of my own page. 




I don't know any of the people who hijacked my page, but sadly they were more active than I was.   

That has always been an insecurity- how does one manage to do everything? Plenty of people do it, so I know it can be done. I've been years trying to find the right balance between writing/marketing/laundry. 

So, now I'm starting over. I'm trying to look at it as a fresh start and not the royal pain in my arse that it was. If you have a sec, would you give me a like? I have a long way to go to get back to where I was... 




Thanks IWSG! And thanks to our leader, Alex Cavanaugh and our awesome co-hosts J Lenni Dorner, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, Lee Lowery, and Rachna Chhabria!

42 comments:

  1. That really sucks. Sorry you have to start over.

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    1. Melissa says to see it as a blessing and a fresh start. That's what I'm doing (and there is no other choice besides quitting)

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  2. Ugh. Just...ugh. Trying to put a positive spin on it like you're doing, that you get to start fresh, is a good way to look at it. Hang in there!

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    1. It has been a decent little kick in the pants. I wasn't even aware of how long I'd let it go idle. I'd have guessed a month or so and it was over a year!

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  3. So sorry your Facebook page got hacked and you have to start over with it. If you figure out how to manage everything, please share your secret with me.

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    1. A wise person once told me it starts with saying no...a word I don't use too often.

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  4. That's rotten, Elizabeth. When I visit FB, I'll look for your new page. It's not safe out there.

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  5. Sorry you went through that. who knows? Maybe it'll turn out to be a good thing in the end.

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    1. Maybe it will. Like you said, it's a reason to rebuild and refresh the content.

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  6. Wow! That's an interesting looking crew you *didn't* hire to run the show. Facebook is too busy playing politics to worry about things like hijacked accounts and fraud. Oh. Did I say that out loud? 🤣

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    1. I said that more than a few times last week. The hackers, IMHO, were after my blue check so they could pretend to be a verified account. I don't know why Facebook wouldn't take that seriously. They were pretending to sell clothes. They could have been collecting credit card numbers. Or dress sizes.

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  7. The most frustrating part was that it was time consuming to try to fix it. Had I known they were going to totally ignore me, I'd have abandoned ship on day one and called it quits immediately.

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  8. Ack! That sucks and I'm sorry it happened to you. I wonder if my auto-post creator from Wordpress is enough to keep me active. Now I'm all paranoid.

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    1. I've never heard of hackers taking over Wordpress. I do notice a much higher rate of spam comments when I'm not active on my blog.

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  9. Well, how effin ridiculous that your authority over - gasp - your own page has been given to some jerks who want to sell Seckman clothes? Idiots. Facebook is the most stupid of all.
    Love ya. Stay positive, my dear. You're doing fine.

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    1. I'm sure one day I will laugh about it. I should have looked up all those admins and stalked their pages. But they were surely phony also.

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  10. Gads, Elizabeth! This sounds both nerve-racking and mentally painful. So sorry it happened.
    I got hacked several years ago on FB and closed out my account.

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    1. A friend of mine had her personal page taken over and had to close it. She lost all the pictures and memories she had posted there. That was a huge loss.

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  11. Technology sucks! It’s a necessary E-V-I-L if we want to stay relevant. I haven’t touched Farcebook in months because I think they are too powerful, I need less judgy people in my life.
    You post made me check if I was hi-jacked, and no. I never got a blue check that I know of so I must not be important enough, haha

    Miss you, my friend. Hopefully we can do an in person event soon — give me a shout if you see one you like!
    Tara Tyler Talks

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    1. You're way important enough! I forget how I got it. I think you just request it and send on proof of identity.

      I miss live events and hanging out with you too!

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  12. Dang, sorry that happened. I know it was stressful. Happy IWSG!

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    1. It made for a very grumpy week, that's for sure!

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  13. I have a few choice words for crappy people like that, but I will keep it clean!

    I haven't been writing at all because of juggling lots of family issues, and not having anything worth writing. I re-edited a book I published in 2015, and hoping to get it re-released. That's about it. You're not alone. But I am hoping, like you, to get back into the groove...

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    1. It's so easy to get out of the groove! Hopefully, you get back to writing soon.

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  14. Oh no! You'd think that Facebook would take control of the situation. :( I went and followed you-again.

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    1. Thank you so much for following! I suppose it is nice to be back to appreciating every single follower.

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  15. What a nightmare! I am so sorry you have to go through all of this...

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    1. It was very aggravating and time consuming, but it's over, so time to move on.

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  16. So sorry that happened to you. I can only imagine the stress.

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    1. The week it was happening, I was not a happy camper. In hindsight, it's not so bad.

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  17. That's terrible, Elizabeth. So sorry you had to go through all that.

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  18. Wow, that outright stinks of doggy poo. I can't believe in order to fix the problem they have to delete that page. --And that that would have given access to them in the first place. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

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    1. I had to turn my page in for copyright violation and practically beg to have it deleted. It truly was insane that no one seemed to care about it. I did a lot of internet searches and it seems to be a common problem.

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  19. Hope you are having a great weekend with no FB stress:)
    Hugs

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    1. No stress this weekend. I am spending a few days at the beach and I am chill in the sun.

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  20. Oh no. So sorry for the stress. Hackers will burn someday.

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  21. Enjoy the beach. Think of us while you're soaking up the sun:)

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  22. That is just horrible! I'd never before thought about how attractive a verified check mark would be for those involved with nefarious activity online!

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