WSJ: “Meta Fired Employees Who Hijacked User Accounts” – IT Pro – News

Meta has punished or fired more than two dozen employees for hijacking multiple users’ Facebook and Instagram accounts. The Wall Street Journal wrote this Thursday based on inside sources.

The perpetrators, according to the newspaper’s sources Among others it hired employees from the security company Allied Universal. The Wall Street Journal also interviewed companies that say they put people in contact with Meta employees for a fee, who were willing to give them access to certain accounts. In some cases, perpetrators have been paid thousands of dollars to hijack accounts.

Reportedly, employees took over the accounts using Meta Oops’ recovery tool. Allows employees to submit reports of inaccessible accounts, after which control is restored. It should only be used in exceptional cases, such as when relatives of a deceased user want access to his account. The use of oops is said to have increased in recent years from 22,000 times in 2017 to 50,270 times in 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Meta did not substantially respond to the newspaper story. However, a spokesperson says v Engadget that Meta “continues to take appropriate action against anyone selling fraudulent services within the Company”. Allied Universal tells the site that it “always takes” reports of abuse seriously.