Years ago I set up a Facebook ads account as I did run a Facebook page for the bar I was DJing in at the time and we did use the ads service a couple of times. Luckily I’d set a spend limit of 20 Euros, thank the heavens I did that. I’d forgotten all about the account as it was so long ago. The Facebook ads payment was linked to my PayPal account so you can imagine my horror when my phone started going nuts at 03:30 in the morning a couple of weeks ago with email and text alerts. Someone had hacked my Facebook account and spent 2 x 20 euros on placing dodgy ads linked to my payment before my bank put a stop on my card after notifying me of suspected fraudulent activity.
Obviously I was relieved that no further payments could be made and I was grateful that the bank had suspected something was amiss. The next day I was in a queue on their phone support for an hour in order to speak with their English language service, it was well worth the wait. The man assisting me walked me through the process of the actions I had to undertake to sort the mess out, he was super helpful and put my mind at rest. Two weeks later and I’ve even been reimbursed with the money I’d had taken from my account too.
My one gripe with all of this, well two gripes; you cannot speak to anyone at Facebook OR Paypal. Hours and hours spent trying to contact anyone at both companies about the fraud to no avail. An effing nightmare. I’m guessing my bank’s fraud department has been in touch with Paypal though as I received an email from Paypal this morning about it. Still nothing from Facebook though. I’ve changed all my passwords and updated all my security too, including being notified for approval before any payments can be made through Facebook, I wish I’d set that before.
I’ve since read of others suffering the same hack as me but had been stung for thousands before they were aware anything was amiss as no spend limits were set on their ads account. That really is a nightmare.
10/10 goes to Banco Santander – 0/10 to Facebook & PayPal.
In other news….
After using my laptop for audio production for a number of weeks, it was great to be back working on my now fully repaired main studio PC, and wow, it’s really fast. Saying that, when it rains, it pours. My mic processor dbx286s has started distorting which means replacing it for a new one, another 170 Euros up the swanny! It had lasted years though and as there’s no on/off switch on the unit, it had been ‘on’ for years too. My tech guy said that my PC problems were down to overheating issues (and some other technical stuff I didn’t understand) and my guess is the dbx has suffered the same issues. Tech gear doesn’t like heat, which is a problem here in Mallorca as it can get a tad warm.