2 days ago
Hackers take over Chicago woman's Facebook page, post item after item for sale
Imagine getting messages from people saying they're contacting you to buy something you posted for sale, on your Facebook page — except that you never posted any items for sale, and your page was hacked.
That was the reality Melissa Whiteman Kingsbury of Chicago.
Kingsbury said she received more than 25 calls and 30 text messages in the first hour after her page was hacked, asking if she was really selling items like low-priced cars in great condition. She was not selling any such things, or anything at all.
"For me personally, I'm not a big poster of personal information," said Kingsbury.
But what was passed off as personal information was appearing all over Kingsbury's Facebook page for her Chicago realty business. One post said Kingsbury was "absolutely thrilled to announce" she had become a "Certified Cryptocurrency Expert," even showing her certificate.
Another post said Kingsbury was selling a four-door 2011 Honda Accord SE for $2,300. And another tragically announced her sister-in-law was seriously ill and needed to sell off a number of vehicles and even a piece of farm equipment.
The problem was that Kingsbury never wrote any of those posts. Her account was hacked back in May — essentially turning her page, into a Facebook marketplace.
"It almost looked like I was an auctioneer at one point, selling all kinds of personal property," Kingsbury said.
Then the phone calls and text messages — more than 50 — started coming in.
"The one that really scared me is: 'I'm getting ready to Zelle you $5,000. I want to make sure it's you before I send it,'" said Kingsbury.
The Chicago realtor, who has more than 2,000 followers on her Facebook page, said the hacker even created a post saying her clients were now finding financial freedom through her investment strategies. Kingsbury said the family whose photo appeared in the post were not even her clients, and yet, the photo was manipulated to show the man of the family holding a sign reading, "We said yes to the address! Thank you Melissa Kingsbury for this success."
"They actually edited the home ownership sign with my name on it to make it more believable, for sure," said Kingsbury.
Fraud expert Professor Bill Kresse of Governors State University had a warning.
"You simply cannot even trust photographs on social media anymore," he said.
Kresse said it is common for scammers to target people who have garnered trust within their community and who have lots of Facebook friends.
"They can then lock you out of that account, and then approach all of your friends in selling things — even giving a sob story as to why they need money," said Kresse.
Kingsbury said she was able to get her personal page back.
"I went through Meta. I went through Facebook," she said. "Every little place I could report a problem or give feedback to the company, I did — probably a few times a day."
But regaining page access has not been the norm with CBS News Chicago's past reporting, which goes back years.
Kingsbury said she is still fighting to get her business page back up and running. When she regained access to her personal page, she posted a message to her friends saying she was locked out of her account — and indeed she is not selling cars, trailers, crypto or investment advice.
She warned people to be careful. Some friends responded saying the same thing happened to them.
Professor Fraud said the best way to prevent a hacker from gaining access to your Facebook page, is two-factor authentication, where a code can be sent to your phone or email. Kingsbury said she had that in place.
CBS News Chicago reached out to Facebook to comment on this story. Facebook said it is looking into Kingsbury's accounts, and will get back to us with a comment. We'll keep you posted.
