US aid office in Colombia reports its Facebook page was hacked

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The Colombia office of the U.S. government agency that oversees foreign aid and development funding said its Facebook page was hacked and asked the public to ignore any posts or links from the account.

The United States Agency for International Development and the U.S. Embassy in Bogota said in a statement issued Saturday that staff members “identified an unauthorized access, resulting in a potential risk.”

The statement did not identify the risk or explain if the breach involved ransomware.

The Facebook page of USAID’s Colombia program displayed the message: “This content isn’t available right now.” The agency did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press on the impact and status of the hack.

“We urge all Facebook users and the general public to exercise caution and ignore any posts or links that originate from the compromised USAID Colombia Facebook account,” the agency said in its statement. “Our team is actively working to restore account security and investigate the extent of the breach.”