With rising costs hitting Manchester’s hospitality industry hard, one bar manager has a strong warning for other venues after he was recently hacked on Instagram – and held to ransom by the hacker.
After receiving a message from an account that shared mutual friend with his, Neil clicked a link and entered his details thinking that he was replying to Instagram.
He then saw that his account had been blocked, before receiving a number of messages and Whatsapp calls from a hacker who asked for £400 in order to restore the account.
A message from the hacker, sent to Neil’s personal Whatsapp, read: “Hi. I’m sorry. I hacked your account, I’m doing this for money, if you want, I can sell it to you for a small fee.”
Neil Garner, founder of Stockport’s cult favourite cocktail bar, Cherry Jam, told The Manc: “We received a message in late August telling us that we had violated a code and, as the message came from an account with mutual friends and colleagues on Instagram, I stupidly entered my details.
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“Our account then got blocked and a few days afterwards I received messages from a hacker, followed by several video calls on WhatsApp from people demanding that we pay them money to get the account back.
“We wrote to Meta and reported the issue, but we have had no reply since.”
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Image; Supplied
Image; Supplied
Neil continued: “We opted not to pay the hacker, of course, but this has had a massive effect on the business.
“As Instagram is our most important marketing tool, we had gone from 6,500 local followers and supporters to zero overnight. Our sales dropped by a massive 30% the month we lost the account and our ticketed event sales also took a huge hit.
“With rising wage costs, energy bills, cost of living and an unsettled economy this has been a huge hit to our business, we will get through, (we hope), however it has had stopped any plans for growth and made it much more expensive to get the word out about upcoming events and promotions.”
Follow these tips to avoid getting hacked on Instagram:
Always use a very strong password.
Make sure that the phone number and email linked to your account are up to date.
Use Instagram’s two-step authentication and try to use a different email address for each Instagram account that you run.
Ignore “phishing” messages and learn to spot the fake ones. If you get ANY emails, texts or especially DMs including links, err on the side of caution and DO NOT click. Even if they’re from a friend, as they may have been hacked or their account duplicated or claiming to be from Instagram or Facebook. If in ANY doubt, ignore and delete.
Avoid linking Instagram with other social media accounts and other third-party apps where possible.
Follow Cherry Jam’s new Instagram account at @Cherry_Jam_Again for details of forthcoming events – such as themed bottomless brunches and a special recession menu with noughties prices at the Stockport venue.
Feature image – Cherry Jam
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A local employment charity is looking to raise £25,000 for Greater Manchester women this Christmas
Danny Jones
The regional arm of a nationwide employment charity that specialises in helping women into the workplace is aiming to raise a minimum of £25,000 for Greater Manchester locals this Christmas.
Smarts Works, an organisation that does crucial work to combat unemployment all over the UK, is ramping up its year-round efforts this festive period – a time that can prove difficult for many – to help women secure jobs and support those that land them in their new roles.
Teaming up with, The Big Give (the leading match-funding programme in the country), the charity hopes to potentially double its target amount to reach what could be a life-changing sum or hundreds if not thousands across the region.
Not only will this crucial funding help support Smart Works in its mission to empower unemployed women, equipping them with the confidence, skills and tools they need to secure employment, but it will also help spread awareness and access surrounding the organisation’s vital services.
Credit: Smart Works (supplied)
Starting from the week commencing on Tuesday, 3 December and running until 10 December, any financial donation Smart Works receives for their Christmas fundraiser will be matched by The Big Give.
This means that should they surpass their £25k target, they could potentially unlock over £50k for their centres here in Manchester and Stockport, with other facilities providing much-needed help all over the North West.
How much they manage to raise by the end of the week, the money will go towards funding tailored coaching sessions, interview preparation new starter support and even supplying applicants with work- appropriate clothing for women who need it most around the region.
Better than just helping people enter or get back into the working world, Smart Works also supports unemployed women right throughout the process, from making sure they dress for the job they want, receiving coaching to nail the interview and continuing to provide help once they’ve started.
Over two-thirds of women who use the Smart Works service find employment within a month of their appointment. Last year in Greater Manchester alone, Smart Works helped more than 833 women; nationally into work and the charity aims to support 10,000 women nationwide this year.
The fundraising page opens from 12pm today (3 December) and will remain open until the same time a week from now, giving us Mancs plenty of chance to make a difference.
Another key area of Smart Works’ most important areas of work is outreach: i.e. actively engaging with townships and villages, referral partners and job fairs to encourage as many referrals as possible, which goes a long way to building stronger community connections.
During the challenging holiday season and with a cost of living crisis still looming large over all of us, the value of initiatives like this in Manchester and the work done by the important employment charity cannot be overstated.
Featured Images — Smarts Works Greater Manchester (supplied)
News
Gregg Wallace apologises after Downing Streets labels ‘middle-class women’ comments ‘misogynistic’
Danny Jones
Gregg Wallace has issued an official apology as he looks to be in increasing trouble not only over recent reports of his misconduct on set but his subsequent reaction to the allegations and now viral “middle-class women” comments.
The 60-year-old MasterChef presenter and well-known foodie face stepped down from the BBC cooking show last week after a total of 13 people came forward to complain about his ‘sexual’ behaviour over the course of a 17-year period.
Despite having denied an initial accusation from a former female colleague regarding an incident back in 2018, in which insists no comments or actions of a sexual nature were made, a dozen more individuals have now submitted historical complaints to the corporation and a full investigation is underway.
However, in an Instagram story shared on Sunday, Wallace was quick to dismiss the claims made by what he called “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age” – a response which was quickly met with a severe backlash online.
Equally problematic was his suggestion that because he had worked with an estimated 2,000 people during his time on the show the words of “only 13” women were somehow less valid and/or believable.
Having also shared a video thanking all of those supporting him, as well as numerous other stories featuring personal messages from people both on and off the show defending him, he has continued to rebuke those who have put his conduct over the past two decades under a microscope.
That being said, it looks as though the now former TV personality and household name is doubling back after even Downing Street came out to condemn his comments, with a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelling the response video “completely inappropriate and misogynistic.”
Having since deleted a number of his IG stories and now shared a follow-up video to his initial reply, telling his followers: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.”
He said that he was not in a “good head space” when he posted the response and has been dealing with a lot of stress since the story broke, adding, “I felt very alone.” You can see the clip down below.
As you see, the ex-green grocer and restaurant owner said he intends to step away from the story for now and let the in-house investigation move forward without interruption.
Both the BBC and production company, Banijay UK – who make MasterChef and the various spin-off series on which Gregg Wallace has served as a co-host – are currently conducting an internal review of those complaints made by former contestants and staff, including a BBC news anchor.
While none of the allegations are yet to be proved, one former male contestant reportedly told Sky News that the current allegations are just the “tip of the iceberg“, claiming he witnessed a “toxic environment” and was so “horrified” he considered quitting the show on his first day.
Georgina Pellant -
15th November 2022 
