A mum was left "devastated" after the Facebook page used to chart her daughter's progress with cerebral palsy was hacked.
Clare Smith and her husband Mark, from Chester, set up the page "Super Sofia's Journey" in 2020.
It was used to raise funds and act as a diary for Sofia, who was born at Liverpool Women's Hospital and diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two.
READ MORE: Heartbroken family vows to fight on for justice on tragic son's birthday
The page's fundraising aspect was introduced when Sofia, five, required spinal surgery at Alder Hey in December 2021. It also assists with the costs of Sofia's regular therapy.
Running the page proved therapeutic for Clare, who said it helps with her mental health.
She told the ECHO : "For me, it was a bit of a blog for Sofia, so that when she was older, she’d be able to see what she’s achieved because the differences that we saw what she was actually able to do and what we were told would happen are so big.
"I also wanted to initially inspire other parents - whether they were just starting on their journey - that you can have positive outcomes.
"We were told that it was unlikely that she’d ever walk or talk. She’s always surpassed expectations.
"During the first lockdown, at age three and a half, she started to walk independently. That was after we had done loads and loads of therapy.
"We’d already been running the page for quite a while before we set the fundraiser up.
"Because people had followed her for so long - they’d followed her journey and seen how hard she worked - we were getting quite a lot of donations through the page because people had kind of fallen in love with her.
However, Clare lost control of the page on January 30 after receiving a bogus notification asking her to log in to her Facebook account.
She said: "It was kind of my fault, because I got a notification on the page that said my account had been compromised and I needed to log in. It looked like a Facebook notification, so I did it, without thinking that a notification could be a hack, but obviously it was a hack.
"I never imagined that someone could do that. Within seconds the page was gone and we got an email saying ‘You are no longer in control of "Super Sofia’s Story". My heart just dropped.
"The page was taken over by admins in Serbia and Indonesia and whoever went into it had removed all trace of us.
"It wasn't associated with my email or mobile number any more, so all of the Facebook support links that you follow, you have to be associated with the account but they removed all trace of me."
As she tried to regain control of the page, Clare struggled to get through to anyone at Facebook with her issue and was worried the page was lost forever.
The ECHO and our sister website NorthWalesLive contacted Facebook for comment regarding Clare's loss of control of the page.
Facebook confirmed to the ECHO last night that Clare and Mark had been restored as the page's admins, following an investigation.
The social media platform also offered the below tips in order to keep accounts and pages safe:
- Pick a strong password and don't share it with anyone else.
- Review your email accounts and remove any from your Facebook account that you don't use anymore.
- Change your password on all of the emails associated with your Facebook account. If someone else has access to your email account, they can use it to gain access to your Facebook account.
- Take advantage of our extra security features, including two-factor authentication
- Review our other security tips
- If you have any other questions about your Facebook account, you can learn more in the Help Center
Though she is delighted to have regained control of Sofia's page, Clare hopes that her ordeal can highlight the problem with security on Facebook.
She said: "I do think the hacking issue needs highlighting as over the last week I have come into contact with so many people with the same issue.
"The amount of hackers, or supposed hackers, who have contacted me is scary. I would say that it's close to 50."
However, Clare is pleased that it is behind her and she can chart Sofia's progress once again.
Get the top stories straight to your inbox by signing up for one of our free newsletters
