Glaiza de Castro has recovered her Instagram profile hours after it was seized by a hacker who demanded $335 (about P16,700) to return it to her.
The actress revealed she had lost access to her page yesterday, June 24, via her Twitter account.
“Na hack Instagram account ko (My Instagram account was hacked),” she said. “What to dooooooo wahhh.”
Na hack Instagram account ko. What to dooooooo wahhh
— Glaiza de Castro (@glaizaredux) June 24, 2020
She later shared a screenshot of her emails with the hacker who went by the name Any Hirl and whose email address was anyhirl92@gmail.com. The hacker told De Castro that he/she had already told her “what to do” to regain access to her page.
Me and the hacker #conversation pic.twitter.com/5i2hd4cceI
— Glaiza de Castro (@glaizaredux) June 24, 2020
Following her posts, her fans quickly offered help to the actress. One @withasecondn shared an article of a photographer named Diana Vartanova, who detailed how she regained access to her account after it was seized by the same person.
Thank you! Same thing with you gaiz! Sana wala na siyang/ silang maging biktima. https://t.co/uk6JDwVtIt
— Glaiza de Castro (@glaizaredux) June 24, 2020
Another fan (@itsloviiieee) later asked De Castro what the hacker was requesting from the actress. De Castro revealed that the person was demanding $335 (about P16,700) before returning the account to her.
“Nagtaas na nung presyo kumpara dun sa article na nabasa ko,” she added. “Updated na po yung ransom.”
(The price increased compared with the article I read. The price of the ransom is updated.)
$335. Nagtaas na nung presyo kumpara dun sa article na nabasa ko. Updated na po yung ransom https://t.co/chcxZJg5Xr
— Glaiza de Castro (@glaizaredux) June 24, 2020
De Castro was referring to the story of Vartanova whose Instagram page was hacked last month. At the time, the person was asking for $275 (around P13,700). The actress also noted how the hacker used the “same spiel” on her when he/she was proving that De Castro’s account was still untouched.
“Our interest is only in money. We don’t need your account. We will restore it immediately after payment in 15 minutes. We will send you a login, password and instructions on how to protect your account,” the hacker said.
The hacker also sent De Castro a screenshot of her page that was translated into Russian. She then advised her fans to relax since there were already people helping her.
Same spiel. pic.twitter.com/V8zFO6sWvT
— Glaiza de Castro (@glaizaredux) June 24, 2020
Over 12 hours later, De Casto revealed that she had successfully regained access to her account.
“Gaiz pinangatawanan ni @glaizaredux ang username niya. Nagbalik siya! (Guys @glaizaredux stood up to her username. She came back!),” she said on her Instagram page, alongside a photo of herself.
She then expressed her gratitude to those who helped her and apologized to anyone she might have bothered.
“Grabe, sa panahon ngayon hindi lang talaga pisikal ang krimen, at mas nakakatakot, hindi mo nakikita ang mukha ng kalaban,” the actress pointed out. “Kaya ingat tayo sa mga na ki click natin, mga natatanggap nating emails or links at mga binibigay nating impormasyon online.”
(Wow, nowadays crime is really not just physical, and what is scarier is that you cannot see the face of your enemy. So be careful of what we click, what emails or links we receive and the information we give online.)
De Castro also thanked a team from Facebook for helping her retrieve her account. /ra
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