A local business owner has shared a warning following a devastating hack on his Facebook business account.

Alan Walters, a Rutland-based photographer who works across Rutland and Stamford, has spoken out about the "sophisticated" hackers now targeting small business on Facebook, and has ruminated on the potential costs incurred by small business owners when this happens.

Late on Sunday and into the early hours of Monday morning, Alan Walters's Facebook page advertising his business and showcasing work from his years in the business - as well as being the hub where thousands of loyal customers and followers can contact Alan - was hacked by scammers.

Mr Walters explained: "Facebook offers the ability for small businesses to pay for targeted advertising. I am a small business – a wedding photographer - and have had a business profile and started to pay for adverts.

"A very sophisticated hacker took control of the page, changed the email address, the mobile number and the password. They are now able to run unlimited advertising in my name with Facebook believing they can charge me.

A scammer sent him warnings that his page had violatend standards. Image credit: Alan Walters.

He alleges that "this is a known scam that Facebook has not stopped. The only way to stop the advertising is to log in, but it is not possible to log in."

Scammers then messaged a link through which he could recover his account. The link allowed hackers access. Image credit: Alan Walters.

Alan continued: "I, my wife, my two children and many others have reported the scam using the drop-down menu from what is now the hacker's page. All responses from Facebook say the page does not breach their standards and they will not take it down. There is no way to contact Facebook directly without logging on which is, of course, impossible and Facebook know this.

"I ask: how long has this been going on and how many affected and at what cost to small businesses? Why is there no urgent emergency contact for small businesses – even if we had to pay, for example, a £100 bind to secure the account while it is investigated? We are now sat here wondering how much the advertising bill will rise to – we have heard reports of a small business being hacked and £20k being spent on their account."

Despite reporting the profile, Facebook has not removed the hacked account. Image credit: Alan Walters.

This is, of course, a stressful time for Mr Walters, who has recommended contacting your bank and cancelling any cards that might be used by hackers on your account.

He added: "I cannot believe that I fell for a scam... I have had an online presence since 1999 - a very early adopter of the internet for business. It was just so sophisticated. My main issue is that I have lost control of the business page with all the positive comments and reviews."

As such, Mr Walters has launched a new Facebook page for his business called, The Wedding Photographer, where former customers can share their reviews of his work in an attempt to rebuild his brand and reputation.

New customers and supporters of the local business owner can also follow the page as Mr Walters begins the "long journey" of building up his independent photography business following this potentially devastating hack.

Have you experienced anything similar?

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