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Meta fires employees for allegedly hacking into user’s accounts
Cyber Security Hub ^ | 11/22/22 | Olivia Powell

Posted on 11/28/2022 8:15:27 AM PST by EBH

Internal documents allege that employees were paid thousands of dollars to hijack accounts

Meta has allegedly fired and/or discipled more than 12 employees for hacking into users’ Facebook and Instagram accounts on the behalf of hackers.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which broke the story on November 17, some of the hacking cases involved bribery, with employees being paid thousands of dollars to hack into the accounts. According to an internal investigation into the account hijacking, those fired by Meta included contractors employed at the company’s facilities as security guards. They were able to hack into unsuspecting victim’s accounts after being allowed access to Online Operations, known as ‘OOps’, a tool used to help users log back into their accounts after being locked out or forgetting their login details.

Access to OOps is usually heavily regulated, with the vast majority of users being unable to access it and having to use Meta’s other avenues for account recovery. However, this has led to a rise in a so-called "cottage industry of intermediaries" who charge users thousands of dollars to reset their accounts.

To be able to take advantage of OOps, outsiders must "really have to have someone on the inside who will actually do it", according to Nick McCandless, owner of content creation platform McCandless Group.

An internal document accessed by the WSJ showed that this alternative to the usual account recovery procedure which the majority of users have to go through in the event they cannot access their account, processed 50,720 tasks in 2020, a 77 percent increase in use from 2017.

In the document viewed by the WSJ, a former employee fired in February of this year was allegedly accused of working with hackers and being paid thousands of dollars in Bitcoin to reset multiple Facebook accounts for them. The employee accused has denied any wrongdoing.

Another individual claimed that they were tricked into filling out OOps forms and allowing third parties access to a number of Instagram accounts. The third parties then fraudulently took over the accounts.

Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, said to the Wall Street Journal that “individuals selling fraudulent services are always targeting online platforms, including ours”, and that they are “adapting their tactics in response to the detection methods that are commonly used across the industry”. He added that Meta? will “keep taking appropriate action against those involved in these kinds of schemes”.

Stone also noted that buying or selling accounts, or access to account recovery services, is a violation of Meta’s terms of service. Meta is currently investigating former employees who allegedly stayed in contact with their former coworkers to retain access to OOps and hack into accounts.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Extended News
KEYWORDS: bigtech; facebook; hackers; internet; meta; spying

1 posted on 11/28/2022 8:15:27 AM PST by EBH
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To: EBH

OOps


2 posted on 11/28/2022 8:30:02 AM PST by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; BraveMan; cardinal4; ...

3 posted on 11/28/2022 8:45:46 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: EBH

I wonder how many Chinese agents are working for BIG TECH?


4 posted on 11/28/2022 8:48:46 AM PST by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Every technology in the book to spy on us.


5 posted on 11/28/2022 8:52:19 AM PST by EBH (Ok Republicans, work like our Republic is the last one on earth.)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

I wonder how my FBI, IRS, etc. agents work for Big tech too?


6 posted on 11/28/2022 8:52:58 AM PST by EBH (Ok Republicans, work like our Republic is the last one on earth.)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

I was hacked and they changed my phone number so I could never get back on. They did me a yuge favor:@)


7 posted on 11/28/2022 8:53:46 AM PST by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
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To: Harpotoo

I was hacked and FB, real FB, wanted my drivers license and checking account information to prove my identity.

Nope!


8 posted on 11/28/2022 8:55:24 AM PST by EBH (Ok Republicans, work like our Republic is the last one on earth.)
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To: EBH

“fired and/or discipled”

I guess there are no proof readers, just spell check.


9 posted on 11/28/2022 9:06:03 AM PST by dynachrome (“We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the US economy.” Rand Paul)
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To: EBH

Yeah, already knew that. I would try to post my opinion and my post would be wiped out before I could publish it. Started using notes to compose my posts. Then the attempted post would fail (oops, something went wrong, try again?). This was either extreme moderation or a hack.

Had to login twice to get to Messenger. What’s up with that? I didn’t get much support from others users, scared or uninterested I guess. No serious discussions about life, the universe and everything. Just mindless “here’s what a I did today.” Haven’t been on Fakebook for months. It’s a silly place where the users become the product.

While (1) echo “Die Fakebook Die”; kill -9 Meta; rm -r *.* /root; sleep(4ever)
Currently $109 per share. Go lower pleeze.


10 posted on 11/28/2022 9:09:51 AM PST by thepoodlebites (and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.)
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To: EBH

Old time criminal activity with up-to-date tools.


11 posted on 11/28/2022 9:23:45 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Yeah... only 12 employees...just 12. Haha.


12 posted on 11/28/2022 9:28:13 AM PST by EBH (Ok Republicans, work like our Republic is the last one on earth.)
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To: EBH

Must be just the 12 who hacked liberals’ accounts.


13 posted on 11/28/2022 9:41:59 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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