The case in summary: Inger Midttun Lie, one of the owners of the tourist boat MS Brekke, experienced that the company’s Facebook account was hacked. The account was taken over by hackers who also withdrew NOK 200,000 from the company’s bank account which was linked to the Facebook account. It was very challenging to get in touch with Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, to solve the problem. The police in Norway have limited options for handling such cases, especially when the crime originates from abroad. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It simply feels like a burglary. Inger Midttun Lie is one of the owners of the tourist boat MS Brekke. The boat is located in Brekke locks in Halden. Inger Midttun Lie is one of the owners of the lock boat MS Brekke. They lost control of their own Facebook account, and the hackers took NOK 200,000 with them. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Like many other companies, they use Facebook and Instagram as a marketing channel. But in January they experienced the digital nightmare. The account was hacked, and for about a month they lost the ability to manage their accounts. – Someone had simply taken over the accounts. That was bad enough. But when you use Facebook as a marketing tool, bank accounts are also linked to the user. – And in the end they withdrew a lot of money from the bank account, says Lie. Specifically NOK 200,000. Did you know that there are several simple measures to avoid being scammed when you buy concert tickets? You can find the tip here. MS Brekke was originally a canal boat in Germany, but was brought to Norway in 1980 and used in the Halden River. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Requiring to get in touch with Meta The situation seemed hopeless for Lie and the company. – I have been in contact with Facebook for a long time, but can’t get anywhere. It is the company Meta that owns Facebook and Instagram. Reaching them when things like this happen is easier said than done. So says Helene Christophersen, who works for the digital agency The Pitch in Fredrikstad. She was contacted by Lie and asked to help. Helene Christophersen has herself been exposed to hacking, and has worked hard to establish contact with Facebook and Meta. Photo: Sondre Harridlsleff – It is quite demanding. Most people who have tried have given up for various reasons. It took me a long time to figure out how to open that communication channel, she says. But Christophersen has managed that, and now she helps others to get there. – The people I have contact with in Meta are service minded and help as best they can. But they only collect information and forward the case to the USA, where the case will be processed in the internal affairs department, explains Christophersen. Little the police can do This type of case is just as demanding for the police. This is confirmed by Jostein Dammyr, who leads the online patrol in the East police district. – A lot of this crime comes from abroad. When we see that the tracks go there, we think that the resources of the police are best used by trying to prevent crime, he says to news. Jostein Dammyr in the police’s online patrol says there is little Norwegian police can do against international hackers. Photo: Privat / Privat There is simply not that much the police in Norway get to do. – In cases like this, with hacked accounts, we currently have no good information channels towards Meta. Nevertheless, he believes it is very important that people report conditions like this. – It gives us important information about digital crime, which gives us better prerequisites for prevention, says Dammyr. – In addition, we extract important information from all messages that we can compare and send abroad through international police work. This could lead to the large, international players being caught. Having probably found the culprit in the case of the hacking against MS Brekke, the outcome may actually be of the happy kind. Helene Christophersen in The Pitch has received promises that Facebook will cover the loss. The culprit is probably an Asian company, which has lost the account and used the money to pay for its own ads on Facebook. Apparently they market denim pants. – That we will solve the case, I am absolutely sure. Then we’ll see if they also cover the loss, says Christophersen. The culprit behind the hacking has probably been found, but Inger Midttun Lie does not dare to hope for a full explanation of the matter until she sees the money back in the account. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Inger Midttun Lie is cautiously optimistic about everything. – I don’t believe anything until I see the money in the account. news has tried to get a comment from Meta, without success. While they are waiting for Facebook to refund the loss, as promised, Berg Sparebank in Halden has chosen to cover the 200,000 kroner the boat company was defrauded of. They will get this back if Meta refunds the amount.
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Challenging for the police to solve Facebook hacking cases – news Østfold – Local news, TV and radio
