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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
A Middle Tennessee mom is sounding the alarm after her Facebook account was hacked by scammers. Months after her account was stolen, she is still dealing with the unnerving repercussions.
Jennifer Henegar’s post begins, “Please read and share this to your pages so your friends are aware. I’m coming to you to help me please.”
In her post, Henegar shares photos of her current profile and her stolen profile, with her current account circled in red. Her local authorities have assigned a detective to the case and Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and the FBI are also aware, but the people responsible for hacking her account are still actively scamming unsuspecting Tennesseans out of hundreds of dollars.
“I’ve had multiple, one is too many as far as I’m concerned, (more than 15) friends and friends of friends that have sent over $50, $200 and upwards of $400 to these low life scammers. Please PLEASE do not send these people your hard earned money. Please share this on your pages, PLEASE,” said Henegar last week.
The scammers post pictures of puppies or furniture for sale on Facebook, and collect money from unwitting buyers through CashApp, Venmo or Paypal. Those buyers then show up at Henegar’s home to receive what they paid for.
“Thank the Lord for security cameras and protection, but it’s unnerving everytime the cameras go off or my doorbell rings,” says Henegar. “We aren’t moving (not selling furniture) our dog is fixed and a rescue (not selling golden doodle puppies or yorkies). Please help me and my family have some peace.”
According to Meta, scams on Facebook happen when people create fake accounts or hack into existing Facebook accounts or Pages you’ve liked. The scammers can then use these fake or compromised accounts to trick you into giving them money or personal information.
Other common scams include:
• Romance scams: Romance scammers typically send romantic messages to people they don’t know, often pretending to be divorced, widowed or in a bad marriage.
• Lottery scams: Lottery scams are often carried out from accounts or Pages impersonating someone you know or an organization (such as a government agency or Facebook). The messages will claim that you’re among the winners of a lottery and that you can receive your money for a small advance fee.
• Loan scams: Loan scammers send messages and leave posts offering instant loans at a low interest rate for a small advance fee.
• Access Token Theft: A link is shared with you that requests access to your Facebook account or Page.
• Job Scams: Job scammers use misleading or fake job postings to try and get your personal information or your money. Avoid job postings that sound too good to be true or that ask you to pay anything upfront.
In a particularly alarming turn of events, the scammers who took over Henegar’s old account even messaged Henegar’s son on Kids Messenger pretending to be her. She has since closed that account.
Henegar reports that she is receiving between 5 and 10 text messages, screenshots, emails and phone calls a day since she lost access to her original profile. Out of desperation, she is now looking for a civil attorney to send Facebook a cease and desist letter in order to stop her pictures, and personal information being used for fraudulent activity.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
