Girls' Facebook accounts Hacked - Facts Analysis

Story:

Attention!

Hi…frnds tell girls to remove all their pictures frm facebook….some b*****ds r making wrong videos of girls who r in fb..
200 ids of girls has been hacked in bangalore…so take care of urself…send to ur frnds, sis or cousins…its a news from Times of India (17th nov)…
pls dnt ignore….share to ur wall to create awarness..!!!

Analysis:

The message states that 200 Facebook accounts of girls have been hacked in Bangalore, India and the hackers have been using their pictures for making indecent videos. The message also claims that it is a news from Times of India, and warns girls to be cautious. The story is a mixture of hoax and facts.

It is a fact that several Facebook accounts were hacked in Bangalore, and the same is reported in Times of India, but the accounts were not that of girls’ in particular. The article actually reports the porn attack on Facebook that happened on November 13, 2011, when more than sixty lakh Facebook accounts were hacked across the world which included more than 2 lakh Bangaloreans as well. As a result of this porn spam attack, weblinks to morphed pornographic pictures of hacked Facebook users were sent as feeds to their friends and family. You can read the complete details here. The article further reports couple of Facebook hacking incidents that happened few months before this attack, one that of a high-profile businessman’s daughter in Mumbai who had over 1,000 friends and a huge collection of pictures in her Facebook account, and another Pune-based cosmetic surgeon’s Facebook and Gmail accounts being hacked and used for unfair money gains.

The Facebook account of a high-profile businessman’s daughter in Mumbai was hacked a few months ago. The 24-year-old had over 1,000 friends and a huge collection of pictures on her account. The hacker called her up from a PCO and told her he would give her the new password if she paid him Rs 10 lakh. Her father contacted the Facebook office in Palo Alto. But the company said it couldn’t do much in retrieving the account but offered a successful closure of it,” adds Mukhi. A Pune-based cosmetic surgeon’s Facebook and Gmail accounts were hacked simultaneously a month ago. The hacker, from her Gmail account, sent mails to over a dozen high-profile patients of the doctor, asking each for money, claiming to have been robbed and stranded in London airport. The patients collectively transferred $5,000 to the bank account given in the email.

So, it is clear that mass hacking of girls Facebook accounts is a misinterpreted news, but having said that, it is also a fact that hacking of girls’ Facebook accounts does happen sometimes, for misusing, chatting, fraud and other indecent online affairs. Quite a few cases have also been reported where girls Facebook accounts are hacked and are threatened, creating mental torture that ended up in suicide. Therefore, it is very important for girls to follow the below mentioned precautions for a safe social networking on Facebook.

Do not create Facebook accounts without learning about the security and privacy settings.
Do not add strangers as friends on Facebook.
Share photos only when necessary and with caution, making use of privacy settings.
Do not to get close to unknown strangers on Facebook.
It is advisable for girls to hide their friends list.
Be careful while showing personal contact details on account, it is better to hide email id and phone number. Also, avoid posting your whereabouts.
Never tell your personal information to any stranger, as they can use them to guess your password.
If you suspect any hacking attempts, report or block the suspected person so that he cannot access your account.

And if you think your account is compromised or hacked, you can reset your password using Facebook security feature, the complete procedure of which is explained here.

The message need not be shared, but yes, the safety measures of using Facebook account should be shared with all girls.