You probably have seen those Facebook marketing campaigns where you’re told to “comment and share to win a free gift card.” They’re fun, and usually harmless…unless you win. Certain hackers can impersonate the winner’s account very easily to get the item. This happened with one of our Facebook giveaways just after the holidays had ended.
We announced the name of the winner on our social media page, and within minutes, someone had created a fake profile of that person to message our Facebook page’s administrator. The hacker had created the profile with public facing information (profile photos / hometown / some basic friends), but they BLOCKED the person they were impersonating so she wouldn’t see it. This could have also allowed the hacker to try and access friends of their target and get personal information, like security questions (for bank websites).
The hacker then received the gift card number from our social media team and added it to his dummy amazon account. When the hacker attempted to make purchases with it, however, Amazon saw a pattern of malicious behavior. Using browser cookies and logged in IP addresses, Amazon can ban all associated accounts to the one that used our stolen gift card.
The affected user was very upset their identity was stolen, but still received a new gift card 😊
Anthony has been in the MSP business since before the acronym existed. Managed IT once started as break-fix solutions and some light phone support.
Since then, he has seen the industry flourish into a landscape of platforms, cloud servers, software tools and AI . Tailoring network configurations and software stacks to the specific needs of each business.
In his current role, he focuses on proactive planning, ensuring clients can avoid potential issues altogether. This involves meticulous planning for enhanced business continuity, allowing swift resolution of any unforeseen challenges. What initially began as addressing "fires" through break-fix solutions has evolved into a proactive approach, ensuring that such issues are prevented from arising in the first place.
