At least four people in Haines have fallen victim to an online scam that has locked them out of their Facebook accounts. The scammers take control of the victim’s account, then use it to reach out to people on their contact list. Impersonating the victim, the scammers ask their Facebook friends for the contact’s phone number, and their help logging into their account.
The Facebook friend of the victim receives a code, which the scammers say they need to get into the account. The code is in fact a password reset code the scammers have requested from the site as they try to get into the contact’s account. With the contact’s Facebook address and phone number, the scammers use the code to reset the contact’s password and lock them out of their account. The contact has become the new victim, and the scammers gain access to a new contact list. In theory, this could go on until the scammers gain access to the nearly three billion facebook users on the planet.
The Haines victims spoke with KHNS.
One says a fraudulent charge was attempted on her bank account. Another said she was explaining the situation to a friend, when the friend received a message from her account asking for her phone number.
For now, the victims who shared their stories say they are taking a step back and pondering whether to open another account. They are waiting, and monitoring their bank accounts for signs of suspicious activity.
One victim contacted the Haines Police Department, but said they could not help with the issue.
On social media, be careful who your friends are.
