New Hampshire, Mass. among states calling on Meta to protect users’ accounts from scammers

CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are among five New England states that are part of a nationwide coalition calling on Meta to protect users’ accounts from scammers.

The multi-state coalition of 41 attorneys general are calling on Meta Platforms Inc. to take immediate action to address the recent rise of takeovers of user accounts by scammers on both Facebook and Instagram, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement on Wednesday.

The attorneys general are calling on Meta to better respond to users whose accounts are compromised and to substantially increase its efforts in mitigating account takeovers.

“Scammers on social media platforms pose a real threat to public safety daily by engaging in fraudulent schemes such as identity theft, and other criminal activities that we often see resulting in financial losses for individuals, families, and businesses. Meta must do more to protect its users’ accounts from being compromised and locked out,” Formella said. “Meta must also provide better assistance to those who are victimized and who seek the company’s help in regaining access to their accounts.”

Joining Formella are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.

An account takeover occurs when a scammer compromises another’s Facebook or Instagram account and changes the password. Once an account is compromised, scammers can steal personal information, read private messages, pose as the user to scam contacts, and even post publicly as the rightful user, Formella said.

“All these actions cause undue harm and stress to account owners and their connections. While account takeovers are not a new phenomenon, there has been a dramatic increase in these schemes over the past year,” Formella said in his statement. “As users have struggled to receive help from Meta, they have turned to state attorneys general seeking assistance and support.”

The Granite State has “seen a significant increase in consumer complaints involving account takeovers on Meta platforms since the beginning of the year,” Formella said.

To address the issue and provide better services to millions of users who use Meta platforms daily, the letter from the bipartisan coalition proposes a series of steps Meta should take, including the need for increased staffing to respond to account takeover complaints and additional mitigation steps.

The attorneys general are also calling on Meta to adopt new procedures for users to protect themselves from account takeovers including multi-step authentication measures.

Users who experience an account takeover “from a scammer or bad actors” are encouraged to raise this concern to Meta immediately, Formella advised.

Users unable to get in touch with Meta or have the issue resolved can refer to the Facebook page with information on how to address an account takeover situation.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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