Gurken-skurken…

In his book “The Chinese Conspiracy”, John Mariotti writes: “We worried for decades about WMDs- Weapons of Mass Destruction.  Now it`s time to worry about a new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption…”

I have thought long and hard about writing this Blog, for a few reasons.  I don`t want to put those amazing people who have come to my rescue these past few days in jeopardy, I want to put the ordeal behind me and I know “gurkanofc20k” might be reading this…(Lekker man, lekker Gurken-skurken)

Yes, as you might know by now, My Instagram account was hacked on Thursday morning at exactly 7:35.  Yes, I discovered three email notifications informing me that within one minute my Instagram account name was changed and e-mail and phone were removed.  And yes, it was entirely my own fault because I fell for a phishing scam.  Lesson number one:  Never, ever click on any link in an email or WhatsApp unless you are 100 percent sure it’s legit.  Never.  As in ever.

Long story short, I lost my Instagram account to a hacker. Four years of work, content creation, promotion, and networking were gone in a flash.  My 22k followers and memories went with it.  I felt like I was in some weird cyber kidnapping version of “Taken”.  Seriously, I thought.  Is this seriously happening?  Mari managed to secure our studio`s Facebook page while I was scrambling to try and reclaim my account.

It was impossible.  It was gone.  The account mirnas_aerobic_studio didn`t exist anymore.  Instagram has no helpline and writing several emails to the support team at Instagram was also in vain.  In the meantime, I had to block my bank account and cards and had to wear my brave smile in class, because the show always must go on.

At this stage you might think, what`s the big deal of losing your Instagram account, why not simply open a new one…?   For a small business account, this IS a very big deal.  Thanks to a booming Instagram account, our studio has become a reseller of the famous Sweatgear range.  Only a fortnight ago I was approached by BelleFit to sell their range as well.  Most of our Zoom members have become acquainted with me on Instagram.  I have spent hours and hours creating content and have spent money with paid promotions on the platform as well.  Instagram is part of our brand and how we meet and greet and inspire our clients daily. 

…Being hacked is a shocking experience, more than someone can predict.  It feels like someone has broken into your home and now lives there.  There`s nothing like seeing your hard work disappear right before your eyes.  I was scared of what would happen next, anxious about starting over, and grieving the loss of something I couldn`t see anymore…like it never existed.  At first, I felt that I would just accept this fate and move on.  We don`t need Instagram – we have a flourishing YouTube channel and a beautiful Facebook page, right?

But then, I became angry.  I logged into Instagram with a new account and searched the “Gurkan-skurkan” profile.  And there it was – all my videos and posts still intact under the name “gurkanofc20k”.  I messaged the ugly “catface”:

There was no way I was going to pay ransom and be blackmailed to get my account back!  No.  Way.  There was in any case no assurances that I would get it back even if I paid the full amount!  It was just nerve wracking to know that if he decided to delete everything, it would be gone.  There would be no way to restore it.

Meanwhile, life had to go on, and I tried to keep a brave face during my afternoon classes.  The support and empathy of my members were overwhelming, and they just smiled when we stepped at 160 bpm as I tried to blow off steam…☺  Normally, I would never share personal dilemmas with my members, but as I was saying goodbye to my Zoom members, I suddenly found myself telling them the details of the hacking.  It was then that everything changed.  Lesson number two:  Ask for help.  And take it.

One of my Zoom members who recently joined the studio got in touch after class – she’s also an IT specialist and had a few contacts overseas.  I wish I could thank all of those amazing people here, personally on my Blog, but I can’t.  They had done me a huge favour and I guess that’s all I am really allowed to say…

First of all I was advised to change my email password and by 23.00 Thursday evening they had managed to block the hacker`s account while the matter was investigated.

…It was right then that “Gurken-skurken” started to WhatsApp me all the way from the UK under the pretence of being an Instagram employer, offering assistance to “solve” the case…My ordeal was far from over.  He harassed me for hours trying to get hold of the new login details and to take possession of the account again…

It was only by 15:00 on Friday afternoon, after I had almost lost all hope that I got a message from my rescuers that my account was secured and that I could log in again.  Logging back into that account was a horrible feeling.  It felt insecure, I was uneasy and felt like the intruders were still lurking and watching me.  But in I went and there it was.  My name, my profile picture and all my posts, still intact.

Catface gurken: 0.  Mirna’s Aerobic Studio: 1

It was a miracle. 

Lesson number three:  Nothing is impossible. 

This outpouring of support from friends and random strangers has given me so much hope, and I am forever thankful.

I have decided to post this Blog because phishing is real.  And it can happen to all of us.  Tech crimes is not the sexiest of topics, and we don’t talk about it enough, until it personally affects us.   Did you know that in April Google alone saw more than 8 million daily email scams related to Covid-19 in one week?!  Cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion by 2021.  By 2021, a business will fall victim to ransomware every 11 seconds.  In 2023 alone, cybercriminals will steal 33 billion records.  And why do hackers hack?  Because they can. 

Lesson number four:  Change your passwords often and set up two-factor login…If it’s not on, stop reading and go set it up.  Then come back and finish reading this.  Please.

…And lesson number five?  Perhaps the biggest lesson I have learned this year is that social media is an illusion.  And it`s not ours, we don’t own it – it can be taken away in the blink of an eye.  The past 72 hours have made me think a lot about self-worth.  Surrendering self-worth to the opinions and likes and comments of others is the worst mistake we will ever make.  Self-worth is not about having 22k followers on Instagram or blue badge verification – it`s about dignity, knowing who you really are and appreciating yourself more than anyone else on the earth.

I am thankful for a second chance to do better, be better, on Instagram too, but yesterday Eswee reminded me of something I said Thursday when all was lost.  I said that it was liberating in a way – no more pressure to post a video every single day, no worries about followers and likes and comments…And I am going to hold myself to that…

Let`s spend more time cultivating relationships offline, think before we click, make sure that emoticons don`t replace our words and keep in mind that when we close our phones, it`s easier to lift up our eyes.

Yours in fitness

Mirna