Vanessa Cahuas, a Tampa-based court translator, real estate agent, and mother, has found herself in a battle to regain control of her digital life after hackers seized her bank accounts, social media profiles, and even her cellphone access.

Cahuas, who is well-known in Tampa’s Hispanic community for her social media content spotlighting local businesses and events, discovered her accounts had been hijacked and used to promote fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes.

“They posted a picture of me with my bank account, claiming I made a lot of money through Bitcoin and inviting others to join,” Cahuas told Channel 10 News Tampa Bay. “They got into everything—Facebook, Instagram, my email, and even my phone. I couldn’t make calls.”

She believes the attack began when she clicked a seemingly harmless notification to verify her login credentials. Unaware of the danger, she inadvertently gave hackers access to her accounts.

“It was like a horror movie,” she recalled. “Notifications about password changes kept coming.”

A Growing Threat

Roger Grimes, a cybersecurity expert with Clearwater-based KnowBe4, says such “account takeover” scams are happening more frequently, with over 35,000 incidents daily. Many are initiated through social engineering tactics, like phishing.

Grimes advises users to treat unusual social media posts, especially those involving cryptocurrency, as red flags. To protect yourself, he recommends the following steps:

1. Avoid clicking suspicious notifications. Instead, go directly to the app or website to verify the request.
2. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA). Choose phishing-resistant methods, like app-based authenticators, whenever possible.
3. Strengthen your passwords. Use a password manager to create unique, strong passwords for every site.

Rebuilding and Raising Awareness

Cahuas has managed to clear fraudulent charges from her bank account and is working to regain access to her social media and email accounts. She has also filed a report with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

While considering creating a new Facebook page, Cahuas is sharing her story to warn others. “Hopefully, it never happens to anyone else,” she said.

Her experience serves as a reminder to remain vigilant online, especially as account takeover scams continue to rise.

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(Image credit: Integris Credit Union)