Unfortunately, we’ve once again seen a sharp rise in accounts being hacked over the last month, with some members of our own network being affected. Here’s a reminder of a few extra steps you can take to keep your valuable social media accounts secure:
1. Set up 2-step verification across all of your accounts. When you set up 2-step verification, you’ll be sent a PIN or code, often by SMS or email. You then need to enter this PIN to prove that it’s really you. This link will take you to the National Cyber Security Centre’s website which has a guide on how you can set this up.
2. Use a strong password that includes lower and upper case letters and numbers, and does not include details like your business or product name. Consider also changing your password regularly.
3. Often hackers will try to start a conversation with you, sending messages as though they were the original account user. Hackers might ask you questions, offer you money, tell you you’ve won a prize or even ask for you to vote for them as part of a competition. If the message comes from someone you know personally, call them or send a message outside of social media to double-check that their account has not been compromised. If you receive a message from an account you don’t usually speak with that seems suspicious, it’s best to report the message and block the account.
4. Never click a link sent to you as part of a direct message. Hackers have been known to send messages as though they were the original account user and these can be quite convincing, for example, “Hey I’m such an idiot! I’ve locked myself out of my emails. Can you click this link for me to help me confirm my identity?”
5. Double-check the account is who you think it is. Often hackers will replicate accounts using the same photos with a small difference in the name, for example @Smithsfoods becomes @Smithssfoods. Hard to tell at first glance, but if you receive anything unusual from an account you follow, check first that it hasn’t been copied.
6. Facebook messages or comments from “Meta” have become a popular way for hackers to gain access to your account. They look similar to the one below, and claim that your account will be closed or compromised in some way unless you click a link within the message. The best way to deal with these messages is to report them, and then delete them or move them to your spam folder.
7. Finally, beware of financial scams. We’ve seen a lot of compromised accounts recently posting about making large sums of money or showing what appear to be bank statements or notifications from banks such as the examples below. The background image has usually been taken from the account’s previous posts to make it more convincing, however this kind of post is certain to be a scam. Do not click any links associated with the post or the account, and simply report the post, and block the account to prevent them from sending you any direct messages which may contain harmful links.
