Hackers spent at least $4 million from compromised ads accounts on Facebook, according to the company.
Facebook filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two Chinese citizens, accusing them of operating a hacking campaign targeting ad accounts on the social network.
Hackers – Facebook – Ad – Accounts – Victims
Hackers have increasingly been going after Facebook ad accounts, using their victims’ credit cards to promote posts for fraudulent products, or in some cases spreading malware. In November, CNET reported on a case in which hackers tried to spend $10,000 per day using one victim’s ads account.
In Facebook’s lawsuit, the tech giant alleges that Chen Xiao Cong, a Chinese software developer, and Huang Tao, a marketing director for the company GuangZhou HongYi Technology, were behind a similar hacking campaign starting in 2016. The lawsuit is also filed against the company ILikeAds, a Hong Kong based advertising business that promoted itself as a “one-stop comprehensive solution to advertisers.”
Hackers – Victims – Accounts – Victims – Money
The two alleged hackers would take over their victims’ accounts and use the victims’ money to buy ads for fraudulent products like diet pills, male enhancement supplements and counterfeit goods, according to the lawsuit. Facebook said it’s paid more than $4 million in reimbursements to victims of these hacks.
The defendants couldn’t be reached for comment.
Lawsuit – Cong – Malware – Meant – Browser
According to the lawsuit, Cong developed malware meant for browser extensions, which was then shared on forums and websites. Court documents allegedly show Cong posting on forums and offering to pay people to include the malware in extensions, writing, “We need a lot of US installations.”
Malicious…