Watch out for this message on Facebook right away if you don’t want to lose all the money in your account

Business Insider news site published an article by Chris Boutté – owner of the YouTube channel “The Rewired Soul” with nearly 83,000 followers, in which he recounted a bad experience that he had stolen $ 1,800 (about 42 million). dong) after a Facebook login.

Chris said he is not a Facebook user, but one day last summer, he decided to check his Facebook account. After logging in, he received a text from an old friend saying, “Is this you? ” with a link.

As a YouTuber and relatively influential person on social networks, sometimes appearing in the media, Chris receives similar messages from old friends quite often. Therefore, he did not have much doubts.

Unfortunately, that friend’s account was hacked. The link Chris clicked provided the hacker with all of his information, including his password. This is where the “nightmare” begins.

Trap

“As a relatively computer-savvy person, I should have been more alert, but I clicked on the link mindlessly. A few weeks later, the effects started to take place,” Chris said. said, ” After being stolen, my information was uploaded to a dark web, allowing a lot of people to access “.

One day, when suddenly checking his bank account, Chris discovered that his PayPal account had been deducted 200 USD (4.7 million VND) for Facebook ads. The reason hackers do this is because many years ago, Chris linked his PayPal account to pay to run ads for some of the businesses he supports.

Frustrated with being charged, Chris started checking all the other accounts. As a result, hackers used his email and login information to shop from Walmart supermarket chain, including an outdoor barbecue set for nearly 300 USD (7 million VND), and bought from Best Buy. a MacBook Pro for 1,300 USD (nearly 31 million VND).

Protect your money

Although shocked and worried, Chris tried to calm himself to reflect on what had just happened. After he calmed down, he outlined 5 steps to secure his account.

1. Bank contact

” The first thing I did was contact my bank as soon as possible “, Chris said, ” I got 100% refund of my lost money thanks to fast action. These hackers have a lot of shady tactics. and if I hadn’t found out before the payments were processed and the items were delivered, I probably wouldn’t have been so lucky .”

2. Enable 2-factor authentication

Chris says the next thing he does is turn on two-factor authentication on every existing account. This way, if anyone tries to log into Chris’s account, they will need to have access to his email or phone to get the verification code.

” I’ve never turned on two-factor authentication before because of the hassle, but after the incident, I wish I had done it sooner, ” Chris said.

3. Use a password manager

Chris changed all his passwords and started using the LastPass password manager. This is a service that allows you to store your passwords securely and not have to worry about forgetting them.

You can also link LastPass to the Google Authenticator app. The Google app provides you with a 6-digit verification code, which changes every 30 seconds – 1 minute.

4. Enable notifications from PayPal and banks

In step 4, Chris decided to set up notifications for all his accounts, including Paypal.

With most banks and credit card issuers, customers can also sign up for text or email alerts to let them know when a shopping transaction takes place. If you do not want to receive too many messages, you can set up to receive notifications only if a transaction exceeds a certain amount.

5. Notify the authorities

“Sometimes, I’ll get a little bit of information about who’s using my account, like the IP address or the address they’re using to place the order. After a Google search, I found the FBI. there’s an Internet Crime Complaint Center where you can report these crimes, so I submitted my case information, ” Chris said.

Be careful, and be more careful

In the weeks and even months after the incident, Chris continued to regularly receive emails and text messages asking for two-factor authentication codes as many people were trying to log into his account.

According to Chris, a valuable experience he has learned is this: Thieves will try your email and password on the most popular websites, where we often order goods and link financial information. accounts, such as e-commerce platforms, paid gaming websites, etc.

He recommends that everyone closely monitor their accounts and financial information to avoid the above cases of unjust money loss and trouble.