‘Black hole’: Singer’s nightmare with Facebook

When an Australian singer’s phone was blowing up, little did she know she would lose money and have no where to go for help.

An Australian singer was alarmed to discover her phone “blowing up” during a gig only to find out that $1000 had been stolen and she was locked out of her Facebook account.

Carla Troiano, who has performed at major events including the Byron Bay Bluesfest, has had her Facebook account for 12 years and said it’s crucial to her livelihood as a singer.

But she’s devastated that she has been entirely locked out of her page, while the hackers have also accessed her advertising account racking up a bill of $1000 on it and holding her to ransom.

She’s tried reaching out to Meta, the owner of Facebook, but has been met with a deafening silence.

Carla Troiano is at a loss at what to do over the Facebook hack. Picture: Supplied

The Melbourne singer was in the middle of a gig when her account was hacked so she couldn’t look into the issue until she had finished.

“As soon as I got home, I changed my passwords but started to panic when the hackers had taken over the account, put photos of furniture and locked me out of the account. So I couldn’t go in and change the photos or do anything at all,” she told news.com.au.

She said she was particularly alarmed as she faces losing 12 years of content.

“The biggest thing is we don’t have any protection over digital assets that people use to build up their livelihoods and there are also memories and there is no way to get that back,” she noted.

“I started to panic and realised the hackers had gotten into my Facebook ad manager – the engine of what social media and Facebook is about — which is advertising and completely removed me of being able to have any control over that.

“They had my credit cards and that took me couple of days to realise they had racked up a bill there and were basically blocking me out and asking me for money for ransom.”

Carla Troiano is worried about the impact on her livelihood. Picture: Supplied

The takeover began like this. Picture: Supplied

The pictures have been changed. Picture: Supplied

She added she had got lucky as one of her credit cards attached to the account had expired.

Ms Troiano said she has tried every avenue to get help from Meta. This includes emailing an account for Facebook’s legal team, contacting the appeals system, reaching out for support for disabled accounts, as well as the advertising and business help.

She added she has been writing emails at all hours of the night.

“The frustrating thing is there is no where for you to go for help. With Facebook and Meta it’s like talking to a brick wall which I’m sure doesn’t surprise anyone,” she said.

“No one talks to you. It’s like being in this black hole of no one is listening to you and then a lot of people are like bad luck that it’s gone and I just think that’s awful for someone who relies on that for a living.”

She estimates she has spent around $40,000 advertising with Facebook over the past decade.

“It doesn’t seem like a lot but for an independent musician that’s a lot of money,” she added.

“Meta are very happy to take your advertising money but there is not one place that you can go to get any support whatsoever.”

The names now listed in her account. Picture: Supplied

Carla said she had spent $40,000 with Meta over the years. Picture: Supplied

Randomly, Ms Troiano has been able to get back into her cover band Facebook page, which was also hacked but she has no idea how she did it.

Yet she has remained locked out of her personal page – where people can book her for jobs and she advertises her gigs — for over a week. She also has a creative agency business page on Facebook that has also been compromised, she said.

“Event season is now coming up in Melbourne and it’s difficult because I can’t run any ads to promote myself and promote my business and my band,” she explained.

“I can’t promote any shows through that channel. It really has stopped me from reaching out to my audience that I have spent years building. For an artist social media is crucial as we are essentially our own little business.”

The singer, who is in her 30s, said she is “super frustrated” by her experience.

“I guess for people who perhaps don’t work online or don’t work in that field that would be like an accountant losing all their files or a tradesmen not being able to have their tools to work on their jobs – that’s what this platform does for me,” she added.

The hackers in her advertising account. Picture: Supplied

How her Facebook page looks now. Picture: Supplied

Carla wants to see more protections in place and help from Meta when it comes to cybersecurity. Picture: Supplied

Ms Troiano said she is particularly frustrated as Facebook makes billions with small operators like her helping to prop up its bottom line, yet there is no support available.

“I think they need to put more protection in place or more support if these type of things happen. Cybersecurity is so important so you need to be able to help people recover these things,” she said.

“This situation has resulted in identity theft and potential financial loss, which is extremely distressing.”

News.com.au reached out to Meta for comment but it did not respond.

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