Gosport beautician falls victim to Facebook account hack - in blow for business Charlotte's Beauty

Nail technician Charlotte Brighton, who runs Charlotte’s Beauty, was notified that the email address for her personal profile had been changed on Tuesday, January 9 and has since been desperately searching for a solution.

Nail technician and mum of two Charlotte - whose business was last year recognised as among the best in the country by the English Hair and Beauty Awards - relied heavily on Facebook for staying in contact with customers. The Charlotte's Beauty Facebook page has more than 1,000 followers and Charlotte is at a loss for how to reclaim the page.

She told The News: "All the different ways that Facebook gives you to recover your account - none of them would work. I actually had an IT expert take a look at it for me and he was completely stumped. I’ve got clients and potential clients messaging but I can’t access those messages. I’ve got clients who I only dealt with through Facebook."

Charlotte added that she feels "naive" for not always taking down contact numbers for customers and that she will make sure to always do so going forward.

As well as the blow to trade, the ordeal has also had a more personal impact. Charlotte explained that her personal profile was an archive of family pictures which she had not saved elsewhere.

Charlotte added: "Last week, I couldn’t sleep properly - I was an absolute emotional wreck because of the impact this could have on my business. I had over 1000 followers, I have won an award for what I do and I’m up for two more this year - that's just gone and I can’t do anything with that page.

"There’s no support in place for anything like this - how it didn’t flag up as suspicious activity I don’t know."

The Bridgemary entrepeneur has searched fruitlessly online for advice and has been under a "huge amount" of stress while trying to resolve the situation.

She has since set up a temporary profile and anyone who wants to stay up to date with the business should follow Charlotte's Beauty - Temporary page on Facebook.