Encountering hacked Facebook accounts is pretty common. Users come across a couple of theme regularly. However, recently hackers took crack at some verified accounts. These accounts were impersonating Facebook itself in some cases and trying to spread malware through ads. Ads which were approved and purchased through the platform.
Facebook Impersonators
Users reported advertisements on the platform with suspicious looking links. Most of them use names like “Meta ads” to trick gullible users into opening the suspicious links. Users found some accounts posing as ‘GoogleAI’ as well. These accounts were spreading fake links for Google AI chatbot, Bard. One of the Users, Matt Navarra tweeted this asking Facebook, “How did this ad get approved @Meta ?”
The biggest problem with these hacks accounts is that they can impersonate as big companies like Google and even Meta itself. As well as, purchase and get their ads approved by the Platform to risk the user experience. Meta’s automated ads system is to blame. These breaches in security make it pretty apparent that the automated system is not that efficient. Facebook now allows other users to see the history of name changes. This has certainly helped in identification of untrustworthy accounts but it has not been regarding the current ‘ads by impersonated accounts’ problem.
In the latest report on AI malware scams, Meta highlights a certain malware known as DuckTail. Those scammers who use spread malware through accounts posing as big corporations like Facebook or Instagram usually use DuckTail. It’s not something new for Facebook since, this has been a problem for the platform for a couple of years now.
Actions taken by Meta
Facebook has now launched a new program called ‘Meta Verified’. The program has the task of improving user experience by providing better customer support for businesses. However this program is not free. Individual Facebook and Instagram accounts will have to pay $14.99 USD a month to get the benefits. However, seeing as how destructive these scams can be for businesses, most of them will have no problem paying the amount.
