When a person is victimized, it could damage their reputation and cost them thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Dale Berry is the owner of an English preschool in Japan. He was the victim of a hacking attack on his Facebook account compromised. Hackers used his account to run fraudulent ads, destroying his business and ruining his reputation.
Hackers initially target those who have weak passwords, like "qwerty" or "password." They then pretend to be a friend and request a code that will reset the password. The hackers then take advantage the security feature that lets users add trusted contacts to their account in case they forget their password. They can request these trusted friends to provide them with the unique code that allows them to gain access to the account.
Buying stolen login information is another method hackers can gain access. A cache of 26 million Amazon, LinkedIn and Facebook passwords was recently discovered for sale on the https://www.app-ink.net/hacking-and-protecting-facebook-accounts dark web. A large portion of them were leaked via custom Trojan malware that infiltrated a number of Windows-based devices between the year 2018 and 2020.
Users can stay safe from these attacks if always check that the address bar of their browsers says Facebook and not another site. It is recommended that users use a password combining numbers, letters, and spaces. They should not use it on other email or social media accounts. They should also monitor their notifications for any activity on a regular basis. Twitter for instance, sends out notifications when there's an unusual login from an unfamiliar device or location.