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41 State Attorneys General tell Meta to do better in preventing and mitigating account takeovers

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Dissent

A coalition of state attorneys general have sent a letter to Meta asking them to do more to help users whose accounts have been hacked or taken over.  The letter to Meta’s Chief Legal Officer  begins:

Dear Ms. Newstead:

We, the undersigned attorneys general (the “State AGs”), write to request immediate action to address the dramatic increase in user account takeovers and lockouts on Facebook and Instagram. Our offices have experienced a dramatic and persistent spike in complaints in recent years concerning account takeovers that is not only alarming for our constituents but also a substantial drain on our office resources.

[…]

Even more alarming, there is a significant risk of financial harm to both the affected user and other individuals on the platform. Many use Facebook as a hub for their businesses or to engage in consumer transactions through Facebook Marketplace; some users even have credit cards tied to their accounts. We have received a number of complaints of threat actors fraudulently charging thousands of dollars to stored credit cards. Furthermore, we have received reports of threat actors buying advertisements to run on Meta. In some cases, the ads violate your terms leading to user accounts getting banned. Finally, there are reports of threat actors posing as trusted friends and offering products for sale, or posing as a friend in need, seeking money from their “friends.”

The state attorneys general ask Meta to take immediate action, but there is also a reminder that this is not just a polite request for voluntary compliance but an issue that can result in legal action against Meta:

With this letter, we request Meta take immediate action and substantially increase its investment in account takeover mitigation tactics, as well as responding to users whose accounts were taken over. This is crucial not just to protect your users, but to reduce the unnecessary resource burden being placed on our offices to handle these large numbers of user complaints. We refuse to operate as the customer service representatives of your company. Proper investment in response and mitigation is mandatory.

The NYS Attorney General has issued a press release about the situation and letter.

The full letter to Meta can be accessed here.

h/t, @CampusCodi

Category: Business SectorLegislationState/LocalU.S.

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