Man says friends scammed out of thousands of dollars after his Facebook got hacked

NATIONAL — A man said at least three of his Facebook friends gave money to an imposter controlling his Facebook page.

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As reported Monday on News Center 7 Daybreak, Kerry Jackson told Justin Gray from our sister station, WSB TV, that some friends had been conned.

“These are good friends of mine, and they trust me,” he said.

Jackson reported his page being hacked more than two weeks ago to Facebook, but it still has not been resolved.

On his Facebook page, Jackson appeared to be helping an uncle sell some high-priced items.

“Cars, trucks, a water slide, hot tub, things like that,” he said.

Gray says it is not Jackson.

“I got a text from my friend in Mississippi saying, ‘How large is the hot tub you’re selling?’ And I don’t have a hot tub. What is this? He said, ‘I think you’ve hacked,’” said Jackson.

He also said another Facebook friend gave a $1,500 down payment to the imposter for a Toyota Camry.

Jackson realized he’d been hacked almost immediately back in late July.

That’s when he reported it to Facebook and followed their instructions, including uploading a driver’s license to prove his identity.

“The notification said that they’ll get back with me within 48 hours. It has been two-and-half weeks since that happened,” Jackson said.

Yale Wall saw the post from his Indianapolis home and message the person he suspected was his friend Kerry.

“Because Kerry is such a great guy and people trust him, they’re willing to trust whatever’s on his Facebook,” Wall said.

Gray said a similar thing happened on a Dunwoody Facebook group. Someone hacked a group member and offered fake Taylor Swift tickets.

In Kerry’s case, he said more than a dozen friends reported the fraud only to get a message from Facebook.

It said that the post “doesn’t go against our community standards.”

“They are committing fraud. They’re committing a crime by pretending to be me,” said Jackson.

He says his concern is why is it taking Facebook so long to fix this.

We tried to ask Facebook, but so far, they have not responded to our requests for comment.

News Center 7 took a closer look at what you can do to protect your Facebook and social media accounts. Computer software company McAfee shared this advice:

• People should make sure to set strong, unique passwords.
• Keep your social media pages private.
• Say ‘no’ to strangers who send you friend requests.
• Watch for phishing scams.

Do not click any links that strangers send you and share any personal information with people you do not know.

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