Greg's Corner

Are hackers spending your money on Facebook?

Business owners, whether they may be big or small, often take out ads on Facebook. Considering Facebook’s massive reach, placing ads on Facebook is almost considered a no-brainer. In order for businesses to place these ads, they need to enter some kind of payment information on Facebook. That can be either a credit or debit card or some kind of online payment like PayPal. You don’t even have to be a business to place a Facebook ad as anybody can purchase an ad. Now, some hacked Facebook accounts have led to these ads being purchased without the knowledge of the account’s owner.

CNET is reporting that they’ve received reports of hacked Facebook accounts being used to purchase questionable ads. The ads are then charged to the account of whoever’s account has been compromised while the hackers get their ads served for free. The ads tend to be for some kind of scam product where the hackers are just looking to gain the financial information of more victims. You don’t even have to have a Facebook business account for this to happen. If you’ve ever entered your payment information to Facebook for whatever reason, you could be in jeopardy if your account becomes compromised.

[youtube https://youtu.be/726i18ZXAi4?t=290%5D

To better protect yourself against an attack like this is to have a secure password used specifically for your Facebook account. Never use similar passwords for different accounts. While business accounts have to keep an eye out for fraudulent charges, personal accounts can remove their payment information from Facebook. On your Facebook account, click on the settings option then scroll down to the payment information option. Once you click on that you’ll have the option to remove your payment information.