Melbourne woman loses $153k after hackers demand ransom over WhatsApp

A Melbourne woman said her world came “crashing down” after she received chilling texts that signalled the beginning of the end of her business success.

An Australian woman has been left heartbroken after her Instagram was hacked costing her $153,000.

Kathy Kiedrzynski had used the account to launch a business after her Melbourne beauty salon was hard hit during the city’s brutal lockdowns.

The 38-year-old created a beauty supplement brand, Kiyomee Blends, while her salon was closed down but now the account is being held to “ransom” by hackers who have demanded she pay them money to have it returned.

She had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours building up a following of 45,000 on the account.

“It’s definitely been a tough journey the past couple of years. I lost 100 per cent of income through the salon and Kiyomee Blends kept me busy and able to service customers during lockdowns via an ingestible beauty supplement,” she told news.com.au.

“I created a product to help people and built that trust for the brand on Instagram and now my world has come crashing down again as its been taken over. I don’t understand how the hackers get away with it and I’m the one being punished.”

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Kathy Kiedrzynski has been left heartbroken after her business account for her beauty business was hacked and held to ransom. Picture: Supplied

While she has reported the account numerous times and has followed the advice and protocols outlined by Facebook, nothing has happened and the company, which has taken $39,000 in advertising from her, has offered no help.

Instead she has been tormented by the hacker, who has sent messages boasting that they “buy and sell people’s accounts everyday” and have done this “hundreds” of time.

The hacker was pressuring her to cough up the ransom and warned her time was running out to pay in April.

Ms Kiedrzynski said her $153,000 investment into her original account has all been for nothing.

This includes $28,000 spent on marketing, $7200 for takeover content and $24,000 on photography.

She has also paid out $24,000 for creative team staff and $30,000 on influencer commissions and has instead been forced to create a new account.

“I have taken a massive hit not only in terms of money spent on the page, but the money I’m losing daily as I have a cold audience now and no followers,” she said.

“I’m trying to find influencers and to work with new people but why would you want to work with a brand with no followers? It’s sad that so much work and effort has gone in and no one can help me.”

The Melbourne woman estimates she has also lost at least $15,000 in sales over six weeks from the audience brought in by her Instagram account.

The hacker asked for $400 for the account to be returned. Picture: Supplied

The hacker sent screenshots to prove he had access to her account. Picture: Supplied

While the hackers were only demanding $400 in ransom, this also sent out alarm bells for Ms Kiedrzynski.

“They are only asking for a small amount which was a red flag because if I pay that what if they stay in the back end or hack my bank account?” she said.

“If I don’t pay them money, they have threatened to sell off my account to another business, who will purchase it, change it and remove my content but get all my followers."

The hack occurred after Ms Kiedrzynski had been applying for the blue tick verification and clicked on a link in her direct messages asking her to refresh and then log back in, which she said “looked completely legit”.

But once she tried to log back in, she had been locked out, two factor authentication wouldn’t work and the language on her account had been changed to Turkish.

“It’s heartbreaking, so much time, effort and love has gone into the page and I feel sad as I created a community for thousands of women around Australia to share results and chat and message,” she said.

“How many people are messaging and sending before and after photos that I can’t see as I can’t get it back?’

Screenshots of her conversation with the hacker. Picture: Supplied

The chilling texts sent by the hacker. Picture: Supplied

Her new page has just a small amount of followers now.

“I have 973 followers with the new page, which is so heartbreaking. The worst part is I can see the old account and the hackers have just renamed it … but all content is there and the highlights,” she said.

Ms Kiedrzynski said it may now be too late for the account to be returned anyway.

“To even get it back, the damage is done. I rallied so hard and then let people know it’s hacked so I can’t expect people to feel safe on that particular page,” she said.

“I was always cautious not to follow private pages, only influencers and big business so personal details aren’t in there at least, but it’s still heartbreaking.”

She added Facebook doesn’t seem to care about its customers.

“I’m really disappointed – everyone should be a valued customer. I treat all of mine the same, but especially for a business that uses the platform and Facebook get paid an awful lot of money from us,” she said.

“Yet it’s been eight or nine weeks and you think they would reach out as it’s a red flag that this account has been reported several times. Surely they have access to at least turn accounts off, but they have literally closed my case without so much of a word.

“I wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t emailed them and they said the case is closed, and you can report it again and I have done it three times now and there are no replies.”

The photography she spent thousands on. Picture: Supplied

Her account is still active

Ms Kiedrzynski said that she is still being forced to spend money with Instagram to try and boost her new account.

“Unfortunately there are no other platforms that you can reach a cold audience. I have sent out emails and texts and tried to do everything possible but Facebook and Instagram are one of the biggest social media platforms, so I’m left with no choice,” she said.

“People don’t really read a paper anymore, the first thing people do when they wake up is go on Facebook and Instagram, so I’m forced to continue paying them and running an account when these people don’t care I’m struggling, it’s been a bit cr*p.”

She added rebuilding her account to the 45,000 followers would take her a long time.

News.com.au reached out to Meta, the owner of Instagram, but has yet to receive a response.

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Originally published as Melbourne woman loses $153k after hackers demand ransom over WhatsApp