Jews in the D

 JUNE 25 • 2020 | 27

Social Media 
Nightmare

A Southfi
 eld dermatologist 
was hacked.
D

r. Emily Levin, a 
Southfield dermatol-
ogist, couldn’
t figure 
out why her cell phone kept 
vibrating during a recent 
patient visit. After the appoint-
ment, she grabbed the phone 
and saw she had several missed 
calls and messages. Each one 
informed her of a disturb-
ing post found on the office 
Facebook and Instagram pages. 
Someone hacked the social 
media pages of Northwest 
Dermatology Group and 
posted a racially insensitive 
message, making it look like 
it came from the doctor’
s 
office. The post was made on 
Instagram, and simultaneous-
ly appeared on the practice’
s 
Facebook page.
It said, “We get it. We 
understand you people. Can 
we move on, please? This is 
draining.
” 
Levin also received an email 
from Instagram, letting her 
know her password had been 
changed. A separate email 
revealed the identity of the per-
son who changed the account. 
She recognized the name: a 
former employee.
The doctor immediately 
removed the posts, changed 
the password and contacted 
local and federal authorities. 
An investigation is under way, 
and a suspect identified. 
Although the posts were 
quickly deleted, screenshots 
were shared hundreds of times. 
Dr. Levin, along with her part-
ner, Dr. Ross Brothers, received 
death and bomb threats, and 

ominous messages promising 
the destruction of the practice. 
Levin wrote a letter to 
patients, stating in part, “If 
you saw the false posts, please 
know that it wasn’
t us; we don’
t 
stand for hate speech or hate 
of any kind. We certainly don’
t 
stand for racism.
”
The office was flooded with 
calls. Patients voiced concern 
and support. 
“My staff was overwhelmed 
and devastated,
” said Levin. 
“This is not a reflection of who 
we are. We’
ve always stood for 
social justice. We have been 
serving the black community 
and other minority communi-
ties for over 60 years, and we 
will continue to serve [them].
” 
In retrospect, Levin said the 
office lacked proper security 
policies and procedures, which 
led to the cyber-attack. 
“We sincerely apologize to 
our community, our staff and 
our patients for that,
” she said. 
“Everyone has been angered 
and devastated by this incident, 
and we are working to ensure 
this will never will happen 
again... 
“We hope that others can 
learn a few lessons from this 
scenario. People need to real-
ize how critical it is to have 
proper security, policies and 
procedures in place. We also 
hope that people will investi-
gate what is true before sharing 
or spreading something that 
could be harmful to anyone in 
your community. It’
s crazy how 
one click of a button can harm 
a 60-year reputation.
” 

JEN LOVY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Dr. Emily Levin

COURTESY OF DR. EMILY LEVIN

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