I recently had a page phished/hacked with a simple trick which was really unexpected.
I’ll go over the whole process from beginning to end.
The Scam
Someone from a fake account messages your Fanpage stating that they work for a very credible advertising or media company.
They want to monetize your Fanpage with “unique and relevant content” and ask you about your preference on payment frequency: daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
The lesson here is: make sure to screenshot all convos of potential collaborations, even if they seem legit.
The Process
Once you move forward, whether just out of curiosity or interest, they ask for an email address.
They then add you to their Business Manager or send you a link to add yourself.
Once you are added, your first instinct is to Add Page.
As soon as you add the page, they will remove you as admin and steal your fanpage.
Here’s a screenshot they sent over to instruct us how to do it:
What To Do
The first thing you should do is fill out the Hacked Pages form on Facebook:
They will ask you the following questions after filling it out:
Thanks for contacting Facebook. We’ve received your request to gain access to the Cerdita Page at Redirecting.... We’d be happy to look into this matter further, but please keep in mind that we are not in a position to adjudicate disputes between third parties. If you’d like to proceed, please provide all of the following:
- A copy of a valid government-issued photo ID, such as a current driver’s license or a passport, of the individual signing the statement. See the different kinds of IDs we accept in the Help Center:
https://www.facebook.com/help/159096464162185?ref=cr
- A notarized and signed statement from a person with sufficient knowledge and authority over this matter that includes all of the following:
a) A description of your relationship to the Page (and authority to request a change in the person(s) who manage the Page, as applicable);
b) The name of the current person(s) who manage the Page, as applicable;
c) The relationship of the above person(s) to the Page;
d) An explanation of your request, and whether there has been a termination of the employment and/or business relationship with the named person(s), as applicable;
e) All documentation supporting your request
f) The Facebook account or email address associated with the Facebook account (or Timeline) that you wish to have added as the new admin of the Page; and
g) A declaration under penalty of perjury that the information you have provided is true and accurate (your statement must include this language).
Once you have provided this information, we may follow up with additional requests for information or documentation to evaluate your request. Providing the requested information does not guarantee that we will be able to fulfill your request. Keep in mind that if we are able to process your request, only one admin will be added to the Page, and it will be the admin’s responsibility to take action and manage the people who work on the Page.
Please understand that if we do not receive a notarized statement with all of the requested information by August 28th, 2018, we will consider the matter closed.
Finally, if the statement is not notarized and/or does not contain a declaration under penalty of perjury attesting to its truth and accuracy, we will not be able to proceed.
So to summarize, you need to answer those questions, write a letter according to that information and get it notarized. You can then scan and upload it within the FB ticket along with a government issued ID.
Additional: You may also want to file a copyright complaint which is what I did. Since the content was created by us then it’s a valid claim. Not sure if it helped at all, but once we got the page back, I told them that it was resolved and to close the copyright ticket.
Copyright page: https://www.facebook.com/help/1020633957973118?helpref=about_content
Hope this helps.!
