October 28, 2022 2.55 pm This story is over 20 months old

Council’s Lincoln Christmas Market page hacked

Dubious links have been sent out
The page has been renamed and previous posts have disappeared from the site.

The City of Lincoln Council’s Lincoln Christmas Market Facebook page has been hacked.

The authority asked the social media site to investigate the issue after administrators for the Facebook page were removed from the page and the name was changed to “Data Centre – Business Pages User”.

The page has since sent out several spam-like messages, asking for the page to be verified with dubious looking links.

The page has also started losing followers as residents are spammed by the messages.

It is understood there are concerns that images and posts on the Facebook page from the last nine years could be affected, but it is hoped the social media site will be able to return them.

Visitors are being told to ignore the posts which are going out.

Simon Walters, Director for Communities and Environment at City of Lincoln Council, said: “Unfortunately, the Lincoln Christmas Market Facebook page has been hacked and renamed.

“We have made Facebook aware and they have assured us that they are looking into the issue.

Posts with dubious links have been shared by the page.

“In the meantime, we would recommend that followers of the page ignore any messages appearing on their feed from an account titled ‘Data Center – Business Pages User’ 

“We hope and expect that the issue will be resolved in the very near future.”

In 2022, Lincoln’s Christmas Market is taking place from Thursday, December 1, to Sunday, December 4, in the city’s uphill area.

In the meantime, the council is asking residents and businesses looking for information around the Christmas Market 2022 to visit: www.lincoln-christmasmarket.co.uk