In the blink of an eye, Wanda Tima watched the community Facebook page she started 13 years ago slip out of her control and into the hands of a hacker.
“I just saw some stuff happening, you know with his screen, and I was like, oh my God,” Tima said.
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Tima runs “The Haitian American” Facebook page, which has over 460,000 followers. Followers visit the page to see positive videos, articles, and information for the Haitian community.
But after Tima was hacked, the positive content her followers were used to switched to political content with disparaging comments about Vice President Kamala Harris.
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“Literally every single one or something about it was pro-Trump against the Democratic Party,” Tima said.
She was the victim of a phishing scam.
“They try to lure you into believing that you are talking with the right person. But in reality, they are talking with a scammer that the only thing that they want is to obtain your information and take control of your account,” said Iskander Sanchez-Rola with Norton.
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Sanchez-Rola is a cybersecurity expert who says phishing scams start from emails, text messages, or phone calls that convince you to click on a link or open an email.
The scammer then can gain access to your personal devices, software, and personal accounts.
In Tima’s case, she received emails from a person asking her to appear on a podcast. She says when she hopped on a Zoom call to discuss the podcast request, she was then sent an email. When she opened the email, that’s when she says the phishing attack took place.
Sanchez-Rola says phishing scams are getting harder to recognize because they are using personal information to hook unsuspecting victims more easily.
“Our information is publicly available from multiple sources. We can think of census data, property records, voter registration databases, obituaries, credit reports, data breaches that they happen, directories, any social media,” Sanchez-Rola said. “You are already providing information, so you have to be aware to be extra careful.”
He says you should pay attention to invites, emails, or text messages that seem suspicious. Look for obvious errors or misspellings in these communications. Also, it is a good idea to use two-factor authentication and use strong passwords. Also, avoid clicking on links from unknown senders.
As for Tima, it took nearly two weeks for her to gain control of the Facebook page after reporting the issue to Meta.
If you have been the victim of a phishing scam, you can also report the issue to local authorities or the Federal Trade Commission.
