Australian Facebook users who were targeted by identity fraudsters have expressed frustration that their accounts stayed active for days after they were compromised.
ninemsn has spoken to five Facebook users whose profiles were invaded by fraudsters recently in strikingly similar circumstances. A further four identical cases have been confirmed.
In each case, the hackers hijacked their identities and asked scores of their friends to send money. In each case, the story was the same - they had been mugged in London and needed help.
Each of the hacking victims said they were frustrated that Facebook had not dealt with their problem more quickly.
Upon discovering his identity had been hijacked, digital strategy consultant Mark Neely tried contacting Facebook, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian High Tech Crime Centre and ScamWATCH, but was unable to get any help.
After two days, he posted emails to high-profile tech mailing lists, asking to be put in contact with anyone at Facebook who could help him.
"About an hour after I sent the email Facebook's chief privacy officer made e-mail contact and said his team was onto it. About an hour following that, a support person emailed me saying the account had been suspended and requesting verification," he said.
Mr Neely sent a reply asking who had compromised his account and how they did it. He also asked why it had taken them so long to respond.
"I asked them why they don't have a direct contact point," he said.
The email has since been picked up by a blog belonging to respected tech magazine Wired.
Web producer Rhiannon Elston, whose profile was hacked this weekend, also expressed frustration with the lack of a direct Facebook contact point.
"The one thing that I was really disappointed in is that Facebook doesn’t have any avenues for people to act on this," Ms Elston said.
"It has so many hits internationally, you'd think that they would have some way that you could call instead of waiting two days for an e-mail to be dealt with."
Another victim, Michaella Solar-March's, said she never received a response from Facebook, despite contacting the site multiple times.
"After about a month of daily activity from the hacker, my account was deleted. I was never warned about this, or contacted by Facebook at any stage," she said.
But Facebook says it is doing all it can to deal with each case as it comes to light.
Facebook's chief privacy officer Chris Kelly said evolving scamming methods meant the company could not always deal with complaints as quickly as its users wanted.
"On Facebook, we have a dedicated Security page on the site that provides our 150 million users with such tools; including the most recent incidents, advice on how to deal with them, and tips to stay safe online," Mr Kelly said.
"Any Facebook user who suspects their account may be compromised should write into abuse@facebook.com and our trained staff will investigate the situation.
"Facebook uses a variety of techniques, including automated and human review of anomalous account behavior, to prevent misuse or to block it quickly where it does occur.
"Sometimes, as scammers evolve their methods, these techniques may not adapt to address the improper behavior as quickly as anyone would like.
"But we are dedicated to building learning systems that contribute to a safer and more trusted online experience and believe that over time, this is a battle we are winning.
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