Vito Mancuso, what happened to his Facebook page that he follows?
«My staff and I had built a community of 105,000 followers, we posted articles that had tens of thousands of readers and lots of comments. It is no coincidence that we even received the blue check from Menlo Park. Then, about three weeks ago, I was notified that something was wrong. So when I logged on, I had the bitter surprise to discover that they had pirated my site».
What did he try?
«Uneasiness, which then gave way to anger, because this site was being built day by day: thirteen years of work by me and my collaborators, suddenly destroyed. The hacker started his action by first deleting all the administrators I named. Then he continued to delete many posts, albums and my profile picture. Eventually he also took over my Instagram page.”
Did they also pirate your Instagram page?
‘Yes, but at least I managed to get this one back. I filed a complaint with the postal police and the officers were able to withdraw it. Unfortunately, only a tenth of the work is done there on Facebook.
How are the investigations going?
‘The police are investigating and they tell me we’ll take stock of the situation next week. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any response from Facebook about the return and the hacker has now even changed the name from “Vito Mancuso” to “Fantasy Expert KJ”. I understand that they are dealing with three billion users, but I would like to do it again and for that I am launching an appeal».
What appeal?
“Be careful with content that is published nowadays and ask everyone to report the page that was stolen from me through scam by this pirate who appears to be Turkish and already has other similar “companies” on his account. ”
Are you in contact with the hacker?
‘Yes, I wrote him that I have no intention of paying any ransom. After all, I’ve never invested a single penny to sponsor my posts or any other marketing strategy on social media. I also want to let you know that it’s not the first time someone has stolen my identity on social media.”
Isn’t this the first time your identity has been stolen on Facebook?
“No, I have now created this page in the hands of the pirate on the advice of my sister.”
What did her sister advise her?
“You first showed me Facebook thirteen years ago to show me how a guy made a page with my name and photo on it without my permission. So she advised me to open one. I have to admit that I’ve been reluctant, either because of my age or because I don’t confuse my solid real life with my virtual one. So I thought of resolving the matter legally by having my attorney write a cease and desist letter to the person who had usurped my identity. We had no effect, so I accepted my sister’s suggestion. He was right because the page I managed soon overshadowed the other in terms of follower count».
What will you do in anticipation of developments in the investigation?
«As happened back then, I created a new page that is slowly filling up again. From here I will calmly start over, without exposing myself to blackmail or ransom».
Don’t you feel hurt in your heart?
Anus. Look, I’ve never felt like my life was affected, or worse, dependent on whether or not I was on social media. Likes don’t change my mood one iota, maybe because I’m 60 and have lived almost half a century without social media and its dynamics».
What do you think of social media?
«I see them exclusively as a professional means of communication that must never be confused with real life, which must remain without confusion. For this reason I have never published photos or events that affect my privacy. For me, social media is a space where the articles I publish in newspapers can live longer, and the same goes for the passages in my books».
The relationship to followers is often controversial. What has been your experience so far?
«I am pleased to see how old and new readers are also following you virtually. Occasionally I have also posted original interventions that had not previously found concrete form in either books or newspapers. The Facebook page was also an excellent tool to inform followers of my presence at debates or presentations».