August 16, 2023 Hacked

I sit and listen to the hold music. Anxiety and anger take turns surging through me. The hold music makes me want to scream or worse, throw my phone across the room. 

You have all been there I’m sure.

Placing a call to a bank, phone company or the government often results in long waits on hold. Today it has been 1:55 minutes and counting. The longer it goes the more frustrated I feel. I have heard the canned message so many times I could recite it in my sleep.

Tonight I probably will.

In the meantime, I wait and hope I don’t snap on the person who finally comes to the phone. If they do come at all. After almost two hours I’m starting to wonder.

It started this morning when I saw a notification that Luxury Lake Tours’ profile picture was changed. “New Arrival” it had in bold letters across the profile page.

What the hell was going on? 

Why would Rob change the profile picture? I went to access the profile on my facebook and it was gone. I could no longer access the page. I called Rob, he was totally locked out. He thought maybe it was because we didn’t provide the right information to the message he got about verifying our location. The thing was he did send in the info. That should have been our first clue that something wasn’t right.

I then checked the company visa account.

What the hell? 

There were six charges on the account for a total of almost $ 1000.00. All for facebook ads. Ads I knew I never created. The first thing I did was try to find a way to contact facebook. Talk about an effort in frustration. The next thing I did was call RBC visa to report the fraud. Now the level of frustration has gone through the roof.

I know it’s all first-world problems. But problems nonetheless.

It has now been 2:04 which is two hours and four minutes that I have been on hold waiting for the fraud team. I could recite the hold message verbatim. The part that makes me the most frustrated is when they say for commercial or business credit cards please remain on the line for the next available representative. What the serious fu…?

Part of their message is to ask the vender to reverse the charges. Ya, contacting facebook is soo easy to get the charges reversed.

I searched facebook up and down to find a way to contact them and get answers. Round and round I went. And the annoying voice from RBC droned on in the background.

If I wasn’t crazy before today, I may well be by the time they answer. I swear they make hold music and waiting on hold the most painful experience ever.

Success, I found a way to chat with someone from facebook. I went to the ads centre and found a way to chat with an agent about ads.

Then my computer died.

What the hell?

Conspiracy theories raced through my brain. Was facebook out to get me because I trashed them lately for blocking Canadian news? Were they trying to get me because I posted I want to find a new platform to replace them?

I called my tech guy Rob M with F1 computers, he assured me that I wasn’t hacked in my computer, just Facebook. He also assured me that there was no big conspiracy to get me. It was just time for the computer to update. 

But what about the chat with facebook or is it Meta? Fifteen minutes later, I had a person on the chat that I could tell what happened. It gave me some relief that I might get somewhere. They gave me a case number and up-leveled it to try to find out what happened. 

And the voice from RBC keeps droning on. 2:16.44. When I called the transactions were not posted they were only there. All six were from today. I feel that by the time they answer, I will be a babbling mess and the transactions will be posted. 

What a way to waste over two hours of my day. 

And I remain on hold, waiting… 2:22.04

At two hours and thirty minutes, I had enough and drive to the bank in person. I have my doubts I will get any help but I need to do something. Five minutes down the road my phone rings through. Dylan answers and I manage to keep my cool and tell him the situation. My facebook has been hacked and I need to dispute the charges. He verifies my identity and then says we need to order a new card.

I turn around and go home. Going into the bank won’t help.

Then he says the words I dread. “I will have to put you on hold, and get you in touch with our fraud team.”

What the hell? I thought he was on the fraud team.

“Please don’t make me wait too long, I’m afraid for my sanity. I’ve been on hold for two and a half hours already.” 

“Someone should be with you shortly, I can’t help the wait times.” And then he’s gone.

And the hold music is back. The same music, the same message.

And I wait… 2:43.07

My wife’s home. I snap at her, then stop myself. It’s not her fault. I made a plan to meet my tech guy at Whiski Jack’s for wings. Meeting at 4:30 was the plan. I should be done by then… shouldn’t I?

Nope still on hold. Over three hours now. Time to go back to the bank and see if they can help me. In the line I meet an old friend who I haven’t seen in a few years. He’s been through hell. My four hours on hold seem like a walk in the park. I wait in line and we catch up briefly. Time for a beer soon. 

Now it’s my turn. A pleasant-looking lady comes from the back with a broad smile on her face. “My name is Michelle, how can I help you today?”

“I’ve been hacked,” the simple answer. Her eyebrows scrunch down and I can tell she’s heard these words before. Hope and fear bumps my heart rate a notch and we walk back into her comfy sit-down office. She asks me about my situation. So I explain, “facebook, credit card for ads, stupid…” I feel violated.

And the terrible hold music drones on in the background. 

She types a few things on her computer and pulls out her phone.

They have an in-house number to call. We sit on hold together, her on the landline with the inside number and me on my cell phone watching the time tick away – 3:40.21 the seconds click by. 

We chat about my business. The value of a Euro and exchange rates. She looks at my account. At this point the bank is closed and my friends and wife are sitting in Whiski’s waiting for me to have wings. I’m sure they waiting for me anyway…

Forty minutes later I see a smile on Michelle’s face. My phone is still on hold. At 4:22.08 I hang up still not talking to anyone. But she gets the charges reversed and a new card is on the way.

Four and a half hours of my life…

gone.

It really was the epitome of a first-world problem. In the new world we live in, the problems of the first world pale in comparison to those that wreak havoc on a daily basis. I lost nothing. And regained a connection and learned a lesson.

Time for a tequila. And some chicken wings.