TDCI Offers Small Businesses Tips to Protect Social Media Accounts

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s (TDCI) Division of Consumer Affairs urges small business owners to stay alert to prevent con artists from accessing your social media accounts.  

“While social media can be an effective tool to reach and retain customers, it also provides a target for the unscrupulous activity of scammers,” said TDCI Deputy Commissioner Bill Giannini. “We remind the public that the Division of Consumer Affairs offers resources to help prevent Tennesseans from falling victim to these types of schemes, as well as advocacy assistance in the unfortunate event that a hack does take place.” 

Earlier this month, hackers took over the Facebook page of a small Middle Tennessee jewelry business, demanding money in exchange for returning access back to its owners. The Division of Consumer Affairs worked with the business owners and Facebook personnel to facilitate the process of freeing the page from the con artists.  

“The Division of Consumer Affairs exists solely to help Tennesseans,” said Giannini. “If your business’ Facebook account is taken hostage, first notify Facebook administrators. Next, file a complaint with Consumer Affairs and let our dedicated staff go to work for you.”

Tennessean business owners are encouraged to utilize these additional social media security tips provided by Facebook:

• Make sure you have clear rules about the number of people who can manage your page. While more managers can be an efficient way to manage your Facebook page, the more you have, the higher the security risk.
• Ensure that each manager is assigned the correct role based on what their job requires: Admin, Editor, Moderator, Advertiser, or Analyst. Go to facebook.com/help/pageroles for specifics on the different type of access granted for each role.
• Make sure to remove any employees as page managers if they leave your business. To manage your page roles, go to your business' Facebook Page, Click on Settings, and go to Page Roles. Remove former employees by clicking the X beside their name, and then click Save Changes.
• Enable login approvals on any Facebook accounts – including employees’ – that can manage your Page. Login approvals is a security mechanism that requires you to enter a specific code when someone tries to log in to your account from an unrecognized device. The code will be sent to your mobile device. For more information about login approvals, go to facebook.com/help/loginapprovals
• Secure your mobile devices. Facebook relies on mobile phones for authentication, which means that securing your mobile phone is an important part of keeping your Facebook account and page secure, too. You can secure your mobile device by using all security features available on your phone like codes, PINs, and passwords.

Facebook offers the following consumer resources:

www.facebook.com/hacked
www.facebook.com/safety
www.facebook.com/report
www.facebook.com/safety/bullying
www.facebook.com/help/accessyourdata
www.facebook.com/help

For more consumer resources or to file a complaint, contact the Division of Consumer Affairs at 800-342-8385 or visit www.tn.gov/consumer.

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