Screenshot of the message hackers sent to Spark after her account was hacked.
“If you look at the platforms they don’t put anywhere near enough effort into supporting their users because it’s just a cost to them and they like making profits,” he said. “We’re failing at every level when it comes to micro and small businesses, who rely on these channels.”
Phair said it was relatively easy for platforms to reclaim hacked accounts, but they were unwilling to resource the teams required to do it.
The phishing emails are often sent during the early evening and on weekends when the recipients are likely to be less vigilant.
For Michelle and Craig Tindale, the operators of True North Candle Collective, based in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the message came as they were preparing to go out for dinner.
Like Spark, Tindale had clicked on a link in an email pretending to be from Instagram that claimed her business page had violated copyright laws.
The alleged scammers insisting on getting a response from Spark following their initial message.
After weeks of unsuccessfully attempting to reclaim the account, the couple gave up and opened a new profile.
“I’ve always said if my name was Kim Kardashian or Chris Hemsworth, I guarantee this would have been dealt with much quicker,” Tindale said.
A spokeswoman for Meta said users could verify emails by accessing a support inbox, which contained all of Meta’s official correspondence about their account.
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