2 Tri-State Area residents say hackers stole Facebook page for puppy-selling scam
NORTHPORT, N.Y. -- A Long Island woman said hackers took over her Facebook page and used it to scam people trying to buy puppies.
"It's not only frustrating. It's frightening," said Jayne Dietl, a grandmother from Northport who's worried for her family's safety.
About a week and a half ago, Dietl started getting strange calls and texts from friends.
"'Oh my God. Those puppies are beautiful!'" Dietl told CBS2. "'Puppies? What are you talking about puppies? I don't have puppies.' They said, 'No, you're selling them on Facebook.'"
Dietl tried to open her Facebook page, but she was locked out. The hackers, posing as her, made a post advertising teacup Yorkies for sale.
Then, things turned scary.
At least six strangers showed up at Dietl's house saying they paid more than $600 for the puppies that didn't exist.
"They said, 'Well I'm out all this money.' And I'm like, "I'm sorry, you are. But let's call the cops.' I said, 'I'm not selling dogs,'" said Dietl.
Chris Narag in Florham Park, New Jersey, had the same experience.
"A mom showed up with her 5-year-old daughter to pick up her new puppy. Can you imagine that ride home?" he said.
Narag turned them away, along with everyone else who has shown up at his doorstep.
"The second person that showed up was Wednesday morning at 6 a.m., in the dark, pounding on our front door," he said.
He says the heartbroken families paid $300 for each puppy. Scammers claimed the cost was simply a rehoming fee and the dogs were free.
"The purebred ones were anywhere between $2,000-3,000," Narag said.
Watch Nick Caloway's report
Unfortunately, scams like this happen all the time.
Chelsea Binns, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says be skeptical when it comes to buying anything online.
"Perhaps waiting until you actually receive the goods until exchanging money to be more sure that you're going to get what you've paid for," said Binns.
The post was live on Dietl's page for a week before it was finally deleted Friday afternoon. It's not clear if Facebook or the fraudster removed the post.
The post was also deleted from Narag's page, but again, it's unknown who took it down.
Suffolk County Police officials said they are investigating the scam. We have not received a response from Florham Park Police.
Meanwhile, Dietl is worried about who might show up at her door next.
"This is not good because it's dangerous. We've got a lot of little children here," said Dietl.
They might have to contend with her fully-grown dogs. No, they are not for sale.
CBS2's reached out to representatives for Meta, Facebook's parent company, but we have not heard back.
