Hackers drained friends' accounts using stolen Facebook profile

Melissa Stombaugh reported that hackers stole thousands of dollars from her social media friends by posing as her on Facebook. The fraudsters collected payments through a Venmo account before the victims arrived at her home to collect goods that did not exist.

The incident began when Stombaugh received a text message from her father. He joked that he did not expect her to start selling his belongings before he passed away. Stombaugh checked her Facebook profile and found a post listing items for sale at low prices. The inventory included a truck and a Peloton bike. Stombaugh said the items were large, high-value purchases.

Friends who saw the post sent money to the hacker-controlled Venmo account. They believed they were purchasing items directly from Stombaugh. When the buyers traveled to her house to pick up their purchases, they discovered the merchandise was not there. One visitor arrived and asked where Stombaugh’s husband was looking at the truck. Stombaugh was unaware of the sale and told the visitor she had no truck for sale.

The attackers altered the email address and device links associated with Stombaugh’s account. These changes locked her out of her own profile. Stombaugh attempted to identify the scammers by creating a fake account. She chatted with the impersonators as a potential buyer to test their process. The hackers continued to act as if they owned the inventory.

Stombaugh and her affected friends reported the issue to Facebook. They explained that the post was part of a scam. Facebook reviewed the complaint and stated that the post did not violate their community standards. The company left the post online. Stombaugh said Facebook’s response was that they saw nothing wrong with the listing.

Facebook did not respond to inquiries regarding the specific case. Stombaugh said she had not enabled two-factor authentication on her account prior to the hack. She now has the security feature active on her other profiles. The setting links devices to the account to prevent unauthorized access even if a password is compromised.

Stombaugh said she enjoys sharing family memories on the platform but wishes she had known about the security option earlier. She expressed frustration with the experience and said she might delete her Facebook account if she could do so easily. The account remains under hacker control as of this report.