A Canton small-business owner says he was hacked twice, had $950 stolen from his account and was then permanently banned from Facebook — accused of one of the most horrific crimes imaginable. Meta, he says, has done nothing to fix it.
Jason Keilman has spent 26 years dispensing hearing aids. He runs a mobile practice, visiting patients in their homes, and recently turned to Facebook ads to grow his business.
“I started doing Meta ads and investing in that to just see how that would go and unfortunately, it took me down a path I didn’t want to go,” Keilman said.
Hacked twice in four days
Records show a suspicious login on March 20 from Muskegon, Michigan. Four days later, another login appeared — this time from New York. The hacker then drained $950 from Keilman’s business account.
Keilman moved quickly, reporting the unauthorized charge to Meta through an online bot — the only option available.
“No sooner did I log off and try to log onto Facebook on my iPhone and it said it was locked out. It said it wanted me to reestablish my identity,” Keilman said.
He uploaded a photo of himself and completed the verification process. What came back stopped him cold.
“About 10 seconds later, it came back and said my account was locked. It was closed and if I wanted to appeal the decision, I could push the button — and I did — and it came back with horrific news telling me I was banned for life and the reasons were for violating community standards that they have for child sexual exploitation,” Keilman said.
Four explanations, zero solutions
Desperate for answers, Keilman paid $15 a month for Meta Verified — the only way to reach a real human agent. What followed were several chats, four different explanations and no resolution.
Then, on April 8, his case was suddenly closed.
“I found out my account was closed permanently and there’s nothing I can do about it and the $950 they took out of my account was just gone,” Keilman said.
Meta does not offer a customer service phone number. Users are directed instead to automated pages and bots.
Local 4 went directly to Meta with questions — and hit the same wall and could only find a generic email address.
After a few days, we received a response back that said: “I’m happy to investigate the issue for you” and “hope to be in touch with more information soon.”
We never heard back from Meta despite multiple email attempts.
“My name and my business is my life and I pride myself on my ethics and the truthfulness and patient relationships — and what they accused me of is horrible,” Keilman said.
A growing problem
Keilman’s story is far from unique. Since October, Local 4 has received a flood of emails from viewers reporting wrongful account bans and problems with Meta’s new AI moderation system.
An online petition is calling for Meta to be held accountable for these errors and has gained 63,000 signatures.
It may not have been an accident
Amelia Smith, with STACK Cybersecurity, reviewed Keilman’s case. She reached out to one of their vendors and learned the events fits a common pattern seen in the cybercrime world.
Smith was told the attacker, after compromising the account and moving the funds, likely engaged in sharing explicit material to trigger Meta’s AI moderation system to prevent the account from being recoverable.
In other words — the ban may not have been a random mistake. It may have been the hacker’s endgame all along.
Smith says she has personally experienced Meta’s automated flagging system firsthand. Two brand-new accounts — one Instagram, one Facebook — were both instantly restricted and did not survive the appeals process.
“I wasn’t able to recover those accounts, even though they were brand new made with legitimate email addresses,” Smith said.
What to do if your account is hacked
Smith outlined clear steps for anyone who believes their account has been compromised. Her first piece of advice: do not panic — but move fast.
Reach out to Meta customer support. Smith says she would not recommend paying for a premium plan just to speak with a person — but if that is the only path, ask the agent to remove the charge or dispute it with your bank or credit card provider.
Treat the two disputes separately. Billing and content moderation are handled by different teams at Meta. Filing them as separate claims may make both easier to resolve.
Document everything. Screenshot the charge, login alerts, ban notices, appeal submissions, case numbers and every customer support chat.
Secure your account immediately. Change your password and log out of all signed-in devices. Then secure the email address connected to the account — Smith says that is often how hackers first get in.
Once inside that email, also:
- Enable multifactor authentication
- Confirm the recovery email address is accurate
- Check email forwarding rules to make sure messages are not being rerouted to another account
Secure any financial accounts connected to Meta. If a credit card was used, report the charge as fraudulent and request a new card number. If a bank account was used, report the charge and ask about placing additional protections on withdrawals and large transactions.
File outside reports. Smith says this step is critical and often skipped.
- Report to your card issuer or bank
- File a report with local police — especially if identity theft is involved or the financial loss was significant. Smith says a police report helps legitimize claims to Meta, insurance companies and financial institutions
- File a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as the IC3 https://www.ic3.gov/Home/Index
Smith also noted that Meta does have a formal appeals process for banned accounts, as well as an Oversight Board — a human review panel that can examine AI moderation decisions after all other options have been exhausted.
“Online crime is significantly underreported and it’s only through people stepping forward and saying this happened to them that we can actually start to track this down and stop these people,” Smith said.
How to protect your account before it’s too late
Smith says the best defense is a strong offense. Here is what she recommends for every business owner using Meta:
Use strong, unique passwords — and a password manager. Smith warns that even the strongest password is meaningless if it has already been compromised in a data breach. When leaks happen, stolen credentials often end up on dark web marketplaces, giving hackers access to every account that shares that password.
Enable two-factor authentication. This applies to all accounts — but especially any account tied to financial transactions or personal information.
Use Meta Business Suite. Rather than giving employees direct access to individual Facebook and Instagram accounts, Meta Business Suite allows business owners to manage all permissions in one place — without sharing master account passwords.
Turn on login alerts. Meta users can enable notifications for every new login — not just suspicious ones. Smith says this is especially important for accounts without multifactor authentication enabled.
Add a backup admin. Adding a trusted contact as a secondary admin to a Facebook Business page means that if the primary account is locked out, someone else can still access the account.
Set a spending cap on Meta Ads. Smith recommends using a virtual card with a low limit for Meta advertising, rather than connecting a primary business account or card.
Set up transaction alerts. Ask your bank or credit card provider to send alerts for any transaction over a set amount.
Watch for phishing — everywhere. Smith says phishing attempts now come through email, text messages, direct messages, comment sections, links in bios and QR codes.
Treat social media like the business asset it is. Smith says access to social media and ad accounts should not be handed off to just anyone.
Some good news — but the fight continues
Keilman’s bank ultimately refunded the $950. He is also working with a State Senator Joseph Bellino to push for greater public awareness about Meta’s moderation and account security issues.
As of Monday, Keilman was able to log back into his personal Facebook account. However, he still doesn’t have access to his business account.
“It’s unfair to be accused of something you didn’t do. We found that my account was hacked — if they found that was the case, then they know that someone else did this — and to punish me for that is just unheard of. It’s uncalled for,” Keilman said.
Have you been wrongfully banned or flagged by Meta? Contact Lauren Kostiuk at lkostiuk@wdiv.com