Entertainment

Kris Bernal shares mistake that led to hacked social media accounts

September 26, 2019 | 11:13am

Kris Bernal shares mistake that led to hacked social media accounts

Bernal in a scene from her 2019 film 'KontrAdiksyon'

Universal Records Philippines / Released

MANILA, Philippines — Kapuso actress Kris Bernal turned emotional as she opened up that her social media accounts were hacked by an unknown group last September 22.

In an Instagram post by She Cosmetics, the actress announced the incident after her followers on Instagram suspected that her account has been hacked.

View this post on Instagram

Good day all, It's finally me, Kris B, talking to you in my own personal account. The past few days had been so chaotic for me, especially how my personal life has been risked in danger because of cyberhackers. Good news to everyone that I finally got back my Instagram account after 3 tedious attempts. When I thought I got it back already, the hackers kept on accessing it that I get security codes non-stop even if I'm not doing anything. They attack during 2AM-6AM when I'm supposed to be asleep and is most vulnerable. The first time GMA helped me to retrieve it, the hacker still kept on coming back, sending me messages and calling me on whatsapp, until I secured it. My bf asked me to vlog about it at the moment so I can warn my followers immediately, in case the hacker uses my account to get money etc. The vlog I posted was as real and raw as it is, as I became so emotional thinking about the consequences of the situation. ???? (1/3) *to be continued*

A post shared by SHE Cosmetics (@shecosmeticsph) on Sep 25, 2019 at 5:54am PDT

“Dear all, It is with a heavy heart for me to say that all my social media accounts (Including Instagram, Twitter, and personal Email) are hacked by a suspicious group this morning, September 22, 2019 (Sunday) 2AM. I am deeply saddened that my followers have to see abnormalities and visually graphic content of violence etc in some posts earlier. I kept retrieving it since 2AM that I skipped going to work to secure my other accounts,” she wrote.

“Please refrain from entertaining any messages from those accounts as it is still being investigated. And as a favor, please report to Instagram that my account has been hacked. If you can help me in any way, kindly leave a comment below,” she added.

In her YouTube channel, Kris got emotional upon announcing the news.

"I mean I only got like 1.4M followers. It's not as much as others but it took like how many years to get those," Kris said.

"I started vlogging and everything dahil gusto ko magkaron ng social media awareness. Gusto ko maging malakas sa socila media because alam ko pag TV talagang may viewers na talaga ako sa TV. Pero sa social media gusto ko ma-capture 'yong audience na 'yon," she added.

Reports said that an unknown group in Turkey messaged her on WhatsUp demanding her to pay $700 to $750 to get back her accounts.

In an interview with GMA News on Wednesday, Kris shared that GMA Network's social media team helped her retrieve her Instagram account, but her Twitter and e-mail accounts were still inaccessible.

Bernal recalled that the hacking began when she clicked a link and typed her account details and password in a message she thought was from Instagram.

"May copyright infringement daw ako so parang I have to report to them, parang I have to click this link... Nung nakita ko from Instagram, akala ko legit, so feel ko nung clinick ko 'yung link, tinype ko 'yung ano ko email ko and password ko. Doon na nagsimula na may lumalaban na... d'un sa password 'di ko na ma-log in," the actress shared.

Thus, for all Internet users, Kris gave some pieces of advice: "Ingatan niyo 'yung mga account niyo. Ingatan niyo yung passwords niyo. Kung ako sa inyo talaga gamitin niyo 'yung two-factor na authentication ng mga accounts ninyo kasi dahil d'un hindi na 'ko napasok at all ng hacker."