When Cybersecurity Isn't Enough: A Small Business Owner's Nightmare
**By Krystal Nicole Pereyra | @godskaren** **December 30, 2025**
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Today I shared my story publicly on TikTok. Not for sympathy. Not for drama. But because other business owners need to hear this before it happens to them.
I built Skin2Skin Beauty LLC from the ground up. $300,000 a year in revenue. 210 five-star reviews on Groupon. A finalist in The Skin Games 2024 international esthetics competition. I served everyone — premium clients and working-class people who deserved to be pampered too.
In April 2024, it was all taken from me. Not by bad business decisions. Not by market conditions. By a coordinated attack that combined smear campaigns, tech takeover, financial fraud, business theft, and identity theft.
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## I Thought I Didn't Need Cybersecurity
Here's the thing — I was successful. I had a following. I was visible on social media. I thought that visibility was protection. I thought being "known" meant being safe.
I was wrong.
In March 2024, my booking system started showing signs something was wrong. I made the ethical decision to stop using it — I didn't want to compromise my clients' information. I switched to cash and tried to communicate the change to my clients.
But my communications were already compromised.
Messages weren't going through. Emails disappeared. Appointments weren't showing on my end. Clients showed up to find my studio closed — not because I wasn't there, but because the appointments never reached me. By September, I had over $30,000 in outstanding invoices from clients who thought I'd ghosted them.
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## The Problem Was Deeper Than Hacking
For the longest time, I thought: "If only I'd had business cyber insurance, this wouldn't have happened."
But here's what I learned: my problem wasn't just hacking. It was Mobile Device Management (MDM) compromise. Someone had gained device-level control of my technology. My phone. My tablet. My communication channels.
Even if I'd had cyber insurance, my emails and communications would have still been intercepted. I would have never been able to call or email for help like a normal person. The very tools I needed to report the problem were the tools that had been weaponized against me.
On April 30, 2024, the bank officially declared it a "Tech Takeover." Their words: "Literally Bourne Identity status."
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## The Dedication They Tried to Destroy
My identity theft was so severe they redirected my car payments. My cars got repossessed. I would take hour-long Ubers just to get to my studio. I even slept in the treatment bed some nights — just so I could show up for my clients.
That's how much I loved my business. That's how hard I fought.
And while I was crying and trying to rebuild, people I thought were on my side were participating in my destruction. Some of them had been my clients. They smiled in my social media photos while actively being part of the smear campaign.
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## Who's Responsible? Everyone Points Fingers
When your devices are compromised at the MDM level, who do you blame? This is where victims get trapped in a corporate blame circle:
• **Apple says:** "We provide MDM as an enterprise feature. We don't control who enrolls devices. Talk to whoever installed the profile."
• **T-Mobile says:** "We're just the carrier. We don't control apps or profiles on your device. That's Apple's ecosystem."
• **Google Enterprise says:** "We provide workspace tools. If someone misused enterprise features, that's an account security issue."
They ALL profit from these services. They ALL collect your data. They ALL have Terms of Service protecting THEM. But when those systems are weaponized against you? NONE of them accept responsibility.
They all EXCEPT themselves — and leave YOU, the victim, holding the bag.
I've been requesting my own records from Groupon — one of the payment processors attacked — for almost two years. March 2026 will mark two years of stonewalling. They have not provided any records.
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## Why Cybersecurity Education Must Become Standard
Every small business owner needs to understand:
1. **Device-level compromise is real.** It's not just about strong passwords or antivirus software. MDM attacks mean someone can control your communications at the source.
2. **Cyber insurance has limits.** If your devices are compromised, you may not even be able to file a claim or communicate with your insurance company.
3. **Social media fame doesn't protect you.** Visibility can actually make you a target.
4. **Know your device profiles.** Regularly check what management profiles are installed on your phone. If you see anything you didn't authorize, act immediately.
5. **Document everything in real-time.** When things start going wrong, create a paper trail immediately — because you may lose digital access.
6. **Have analog backups.** A flip phone. A separate email on a different device. A way to communicate that doesn't depend on your primary technology.
7. **Understand there's no single point of accountability.** Tech companies will point fingers at each other. Be prepared to escalate to federal agencies.
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## The Federal Cases
My case is now classified as a Critical National Cybersecurity Incident with Advanced Persistent Threat designation. I've filed with the FBI (IC3 Case #7-4891000038251), CISA, CFPB, and 27+ federal agencies. The documented fraud exceeds $1.45 million.
I have 21 years of federal fraud investigation experience from the US Trustee office. I know how to document. I know how to build a case. And even with all that experience, navigating this system has been a nightmare.
If someone with my background struggles this much, what chance does the average small business owner have?
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## Why I'm Speaking Now
I've been banned from four TikTok accounts trying to tell my story. They keep silencing me. I keep coming back.
Today's posts aren't about revenge. They're about education. They're about warning other business owners. They're about creating a public record of what happened so the next person who experiences this knows they're not alone — and knows what to do.
The smear campaign combined with tech takeover, financial fraud, business theft, and identity theft did take my business. But now I have something else: a cautionary tale for other business owners and firsthand knowledge of what needs to be put in place to prevent this from happening to others in our industry.
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## Moving Forward
I was a finalist in The Skin Games. I had 210 five-star reviews. I built something beautiful from nothing. And while they took my business, they didn't take my knowledge, my license, or my voice.
I'm developing The Pa'ar Project — a nonprofit sugaring program for trafficking survivors. The name comes from the Hebrew word meaning "beautify, glorify, adorn" from Isaiah 61:3. Because even after everything, I still believe in the healing power of this work.
They thought they buried me. They didn't realize I was a seed.
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**Krystal Nicole Pereyra** *Licensed California Esthetician* *Skin Games 2024 Finalist* *TikTok: @godskaren*
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