Hannah Shaw, also known as the “Kitten Lady,” teaches people how to care for neonatal cats and has raised over $1 million for animal shelters and rescues. Her Facebook page has gained over a million followers. However, a social engineering hack almost took over her Meta business account.
Shaw said, “I built that community for more than a decade. Thinking that I might lose it was pretty devastating.” Influencers rely on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for their income. Hackers often target them with complex attacks.
Another influencer who goes by Hobby Bobbins, known for vintage clothing restoration, was also a target of a similar attack. Both Shaw and Bobbins were approached by someone claiming to be a manager for a podcast. The scammer gained access to their accounts by taking them through a series of seemingly innocuous steps, resulting in the hackers gaining admin access to their accounts.
The scammers then removed the creators’ access and began generating easy revenue through ad-filled sites. Both Shaw and Bobbins turned to Meta for help, but found no real support. Despite implementing multifactor authentication on their accounts, they were still attacked.
Shaw was able to recover her account after 72 hours, but Bobbins has struggled with ongoing access issues. Bobbins has called for greater creator security and urged others to beware of social engineering tricks. The responsibility of preventing these attacks falls on the platforms, as creators are at the mercy of their security measures.
