FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley has joined 40 other Attorneys General in asking social media company Meta to take action to protect consumers whose Facebook and Instagram accounts have been compromised.

The 41 Attorneys General write in a letter to Meta that “threat actors” have compromised private user accounts and changed the passwords so the rightful owner cannot access the account. Once the “threat actors” have control, they can steal personal information, read private messages, scam contacts, and post public messages.

“This is another example of scammers harming consumers online,” said Attorney General Jackley. “Consumers are having their personal and financial information stolen as well as their reputations tarnished through fake public posts made on their accounts.”

The Attorneys General have asked to meet with Meta to discuss the problem stemming from the takeovers and how the company plans to address them.

South Dakota’s Consumer Protection Division, which is part of the Attorney General’s Office, suggests that social media users change their passwords frequently, make sure the passwords are strong enough not to be broken, use dual verification if available, and never provide personal or financial information to unknown users on social media.

Other Attorneys General signing the letter are from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The letter to Meta can be found here: https://ilag-dev.dotcms.cloud/dA/a27b76ad-9837-4138-a1a9-f65951fcf92e/fileAsset/Multistate%20Letter%20on%20Account%20Takovers_Ltrhd_FINAL.pdf

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