Another Toronto business's Instagram has been hacked and was totally deleted
Yet another Toronto business has had their Instagram hacked, and now totally deleted, resulting in the loss of over 10,000 followers.
Toronto-based Foxy Originals has been in operation since 1998, but the future hasn't been entirely bright since the business's successful Instagram page, which they built up over years, falling victim to hacking.
Foxy Originals sells jewellery designed by women co-owners Jennifer Ger and Suzie Chemel that's fabricated in a Toronto studio.
A hacker got into the Foxy Originals account on Friday, March 25, sending a string of bizarre emails to the business demanding they respond or else they would delete the photos from the account and sell it for advertising.
A thread of about four emails which got progressively more agressive were sent to Foxy Originals, which they did not engage with. They feel they likely would have been asked for a ransom for the account had they responded.
"We see when you read our messages and from that moment we are waiting for an answer for 1 hour and 30 minutes, if you do not answer us during this time, then we delete all photos from your account and sell it for advertising," reads an initial email shared with blogTO.
"Waiting for the answer for another 30 minutes, if not, clear your account (delete photos) and sell your account," they followed up.
The hacker continued to say that they could tell the messages were being seen and not responded to, and that they would proceed to delete photos and sell the account.
"We are assuming the hackers were after our 10.9K followers. Now the account has completely vanished from Instagram," Foxy Originals co-owner Suzie Chemel tells blogTO.
"We followed the steps that Instagram has suggested to take when an account is hacked. We have sent numerous emails to Instagram and have yet to hear back."
While the original @foxyoriginals account is now nowhere to be found, they've set up a backup account @shopfoxyoriginals. So while the business waits for this issue to hopefully be resolved, the least you can do is help them out by giving them a follow to help build their audience back up.
Foxy Originals
