Pemberton Search and Rescue says its Facebook page was hijacked, warns of public safety risk

Pemberton Search and Rescue is calling for help to regain control of its Facebook page, which it says was hijacked by an unauthorized person more than a year ago.

President David MacKenzie said the situation poses a public safety risk, as SAR teams rely on social media to share urgent updates about rescue operations and community alerts.

“We have absolutely no control over any of the postings or activity,” MacKenzie said. “Our social media is very important to us because it’s how we communicate with the community.”

Pemberton SAR — a volunteer group of 40 members that serves the Sea-to-Sky corridor, including Pemberton and Lillooet — has been trying to contact Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for weeks without success.

“We made an appeal and they said they’d look into it urgently,” MacKenzie said. “It’s been a month now and we’ve heard nothing.”

When CBC News messaged the hijacked account, the person controlling it replied, claiming, “The Facebook is still fully under the control of the owner.”

MacKenzie has publicly urged the individual to return the page, saying the situation is hindering their ability to prepare for the winter rescue season as snow begins to blanket the mountains.

Expert Advice on Prevention

Robert Xiao, a computer science professor at the University of British Columbia, said organizations should ensure multiple administrators have access to their accounts and use secure password managers.

“It’s like having multiple keys to your business — you don’t want one person to lose the only copy,” Xiao said.

He noted that customer support from large tech companies like Meta can be slow and unresponsive.

B.C. SAR Community Impact

B.C. has 78 search-and-rescue groups with about 3,200 volunteers, most of which use Facebook to share updates and coordinate with the public.

Sandra Riches, executive director of B.C. Adventure Smart, said losing access to such a communication tool is a major setback.

“Facebook is how many SAR groups connect with their communities, share safety information, and promote fundraising,” Riches said.

Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman praised the local team’s reputation, saying they’ve long provided exceptional service in one of the province’s most rugged regions.

“They’re highly regarded throughout B.C.,” he said. “This area’s geography is beautiful but risky, and our SAR team has always done an incredible job keeping people safe.”

MacKenzie said he remains hopeful that Meta will restore access soon but ruled out creating a new page for now.

“We just want our page back,” he said. “It’s about safety — not publicity.”