Lockport Main Street Inc., the non-profit organization that organizes the Lockport Community Farmers Market and downtown-focused community events, had its social media hacked on Wednesday.
Executive director Grace Platt said on Thursday that she still has no control over the hacked accounts, not even to take them down.
Platt said she is trying to pivot all traffic away from the Lockport Main Street and Lockport Community Farmers Market Facebook pages, which were hacked and now display several inappropriate posts, mostly sexual in nature.
“It was hacked through the personal account of a former employee,” she said.
Platt has redirected Lockport Main Street Inc.’s digital content to the Discover Niagara Facebook page and website (www.discoverlockport.com).
“The only piece of the puzzle that is missing is contact with Facebook to take down the hacked accounts,” Platt said.
Emails have been sent to subscribers to warn them about the hack, she added.
“We have reported the posts, went through the Hacked Account process, set up extra security and have restlessly been researching, reaching out to everyone we can think of and trying to figure out how to (fix the problem) as quickly as possible.”
Currently, only the two Facebook pages are affected. Instagram accounts remain secure. Anyone who wants to stay connected to the group’s feed can find it at https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverLockport and https://www.instagram.com/discoverlockport/.