INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man lost more than $700 in an account recovery scam after hackers compromised his Facebook page.
Marc Hoover is passionate about telling stories regarding unsolved murders.
His “Catch My Killer” podcast has half a million downloads, and Hoover has spent years building his Facebook page.
“It’s my baby,” Hoover said. “It’s up to 67,000 followers.”
However, Hoover no longer accesses his “Catch My Killer” Facebook page.
Hackers compromised his Facebook page in October 2023, publishing random videos unrelated to true crime.
“They’re just posting dumb stuff,” Hoover said. “I don’t even like to look at it.”
Hoover also lost compensation he received from Meta for his content.
He reported the breach to Meta.
“Meta is doing nothing,” Hoover said. “They will not help me. They won’t contact me. They don’t care.”
Hoover searched online for help and found an account recovery service.
“I ended up paying $750, and he would not accept cash,” Hoover said. “He would not accept — the only form of payment he would accept was the bitcoin.”
Accepting only bitcoin served as a red flag for Hoover, but he proceeded anyway.
“I was so desperate to get my page back,” Hoover said. “I was willing to shell out the money because I wanted it back so bad because my name is on it.”
Hoover is not alone.
Account recovery scams cost people $1.4 billion in 2025, according to an FBI report.
The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers may contact people directly.
“They may have details about what kind of scam it was, and they will offer to help,” Terri Miller, a consumer education specialist with the FTC, said. “They may say that they are with a federal agency like the FTC or even a consumer advocacy group or a law firm.”
Scammers may use artificial intelligence to look and sound legitimate.
“If they’re asking for things like a bank account number, your Social Security number, or financial information, what they’re really looking for is to steal your money and sometimes your identity,” Miller said.
Hoover warns others about companies claiming to recover compromised Facebook accounts.
“Don’t do it,” Hoover said. “Absolutely don’t do it.”
Hoover took a break from his podcast but prepared to restart production.
He asked Indiana’s I-Team to help recover his Facebook page.
Indiana’s I-Team contacted Meta regarding Hoover’s account and awaited a response.
Experts advise against searching online for terms like “account recovery,” “scam recovery,” or “tech support,” as these searches frequently lead to secondary scams.
