The earlier you get into social media, the more attractive account names you can get If the platform becomes a huge success, those names will be in high demand and can be hacked and sold to others [According to security journalist Brian Krebs, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter are beginning to address this issue

Instagram, a Facebook subsidiary, recently launched an action against a community called OGUsers

According to Krebs, accounts are being stolen through a variety of methods, including threats, harassment, extortion, blackmail, swatting, and traditional hacking techniques such as SIM swapping

If this name sounds familiar, it is because one member of the OGUsers community was involved in a mass hack of authenticated Twitter accounts last July The hack became so serious that the company was forced to suspend tweets from authenticated users until everything was resolved

Facebook has now seized hundreds of accounts linked to OGUsers members, including some that advertise their ability to broker sales of stolen accounts Both TikTok and Twitter are involved, with Twitter confirmed that it was working with Facebook to seize the OGUsers-related accounts

This includes "middlemen" who act as intermediaries for transactions After all, purchasing a hacked social media account is a crime, and when crime is involved, the likelihood of being duped increases

Krebs points out that these people are sought out for their proven reliability and will keep the money until the buyer is satisfied In return, they receive a percentage of the cash

Facebook confirms that this is not the first action it has taken against account hackers and admits that this will not stop them However, its goal is to make it more difficult and expensive for hackers to take over and sell desirable accounts Facebook is also making it easier for victims to restore posts deleted by hackers through a new feature called "Recently Deleted"

They have 30 days to retrieve deleted content if they can prove they are the original owner Hackers also cannot permanently delete anything in a folder unless they can do the same

Naturally, this news is a reminder to make sure your social media accounts are secure Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication to make it more difficult for potential hijackers If possible, use physical security keys or authentication apps rather than SMS-based authentication systems

That way, in the unlikely event that a hacker gains control of your phone number through a SIM swap, they will not have full access to your account