YOUNGSVILLE, La. — Youngsville's Police Chief tells KATC he was hacked, scammed, and locked out of his Facebook account while he was in the hospital.
Chief Rickey Boudreaux says whoever hacked into his account made changes to it, leaving him completely locked out and depending on Facebook’s IT support for help.
“They had changed my email address, everything on there,” he said.
He says Facebook reached out but he was at the hospital and couldn’t see the email.
“And after a couple of days, the link expires, so they just assumed that it’s okay and then went on with the change,” he explained.
The video in question shows the chief thanking Amazon for a $2,400 payment and encouraging others to try it, followed by a few more stories showing cash and chats between people.
He says that video is not original and it was altered by hackers.
“They changed some things, they took an old video I had where I was talking about my kids.... And the mouth does not match,” he said.
We asked Boudreaux if he can provide a copy of that original video he claims is doctored, but Boudreaux says he can't. He says it's on his old Facebook account, which he's now locked out of.
Boudreaux has created a new Facebook page where he has let people know about the scam. On that page, he's posted a screenshot of a conversation someone had with his old page - the page even sent a photo apparently of Boudreaux's driver's license to show it's the real deal.
In the comments on his new page, Boudreaux says the driver's license photo is an image hackers had access to.
Overall, Boudreaux blames himself.
“I'm going to be a lot more cautious about what I open up and who I accept as friends,” he said. "It happened to me, it could happen to anyone. I am usually the person that warns people not to do this kind of stuff, so it's a little embarrassing that it happened to me, but I'm human, I make mistakes just like the next person."
And while he says he's been hacked and impersonated, and even lost money, Chief Boudreaux is not reporting it to police.
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
