MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — You've heard the warnings to be careful on social media: scammers are always lurking. What you may not have heard is the nightmare they can cause. The story of a Middle Tennessee woman who has been fighting with Facebook for months over a hacked account should serve as a cautionary tale.
Jennifer Henegar loved Facebook for the reason most of us do.
"I was able to keep up with siblings and nieces and nephews and cousins," she said.
So when a high school friend from Texas reached out, she was happy to chat.
"We’d been talking and just kind of catching up, I thought, about her recent move and her sister, so it was vague, but it was enough that I thought it was her," Henegar said.
When her friend asked her to purchase some items from her business... she didn’t think twice.
“My guard was down because we’d been talking for days," Henegar said.
But within minutes of providing personal information and clicking a link her "friend" sent, she knew she had made a terrible mistake. By the time she got back in control of her phone, someone had changed the email address tied to her Facebook account and changed her password.
That meant Heneger no longer had control of her Facebook account but somebody else certainly did, bombarding local "Hip" neighborhood and "Buy, Sell & Trade" pages. The scammers easily answered peoples’ questions and collected their money.
"They were selling goldendoodles, then they’d be selling yorkies, then there was an itemized list of furniture," Henegar said. "They've got pictures of the dogs and they send video of a puppy playing."
Armed with personal information Henegar turned over to who she thought was a friend, the scammers have sent people right to her doorstep looking to collect on their purchases. All of it has taken a toll.
"They are using my good character and my face and stealing money from people and that's not what I'm about," she said.
Henegar filed a report with the Mt. Juliet Police Department, but technically no crime has been committed against her. She has also repeatedly asked Facebook to take action but only received a generic reply in return. In a message, Facebook notified Henegar that it won't take the profile down because it doesn't believe anyone is being harmed.
"By them not shutting it down, they're perpetuating the scam," Henegar said. "I just want it deleted, I want it gone, I just want it off Facebook."
So how you do keep this from happening to you?
- Keep your friends list private.
- Only allow your friends on Facebook to see your posts and pictures.
- If someone new wants to chat, ask them some specific questions like: "What kind of car did I drive in high school?"
- If you are buying something you see on Facebook, don't exchange any money until you see it in person.
Henegar hopes by sharing her story, someone else will be spared this nightmare.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to Facebook to ask about the protocol to report and delete a compromised account, but have not received a reply.
