Get Gephardt: Facebook gives little to no help to users locked out by hackers

SALT LAKE CITY — More and more, Get Gephardt is hearing from folks who have been locked out of their Facebook accounts by a hacker. Unable to get help from Facebook and desperate to get their identities back, they don’t know where else to turn.

Investors have been pretty unimpressed with Facebook of late. Its stock price on the Nasdaq has dropped a whopping 66% since the beginning of the year. Also not particularly satisfied with Facebook are people trying to get a little customer service.

We have reported on their woes numerous times at KSL.

“I found that Facebook has virtually no mechanism to help people in that situation whatsoever,” Chris Loizos told me after a hacker locked him out of his Facebook account. “They started scamming my friends, all my friends.”

Jackie Cooley is also one of those who have lost precious memories after someone took control of her page.

“I tried everything I could think of to, to get my Facebook back,” she said.

We’ve also seen businesses being impersonated, allowing crooks to rip off their customers.

In fact, we have done so many stories here in Utah, I’m now hearing from folks all over the country wanting to know if I know any tricks, a magic bullet, or something to get their accounts restored to them.

“We didn’t really know what was going on,” said Lisa Bollin, CEO of the Cowgirl Tuff Company based in Minnesota.

Their Facebook page had been stolen by a hacker and for weeks – no real help from the social media behemoth.

“I mean, they’re communicating with us,” she said, “but it feels very automated.”

Up until now, my magic bullet has been to call the various people working in Facebook’s various public relations roles and ask them to help. But as of late, much like the customers who try to reach the company, callbacks are inconsistent.

For example, we reached out way back in September on behalf of Cowgirl Tuff Company and several times since. We got one response more than two months later – a PR person writing, “I’ll do what I can to help.” And that is the last word we have heard, though the rightful owners have gotten control of their account back.

“They don’t care about me,” said Bollin. “Facebook does not care about their customers.”

Remember, you are not a customer of Facebook — you are their product. You are what they sell to advertisers. So, consumer laws that might protect you if you’re ripped off don’t do you any good when trying to demand help from Facebook.