MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – When Angie Valenzuela attempted to log into Midland Crime Stoppers’ Facebook page last Thursday, she later realized the page that had more than 20 thousand followers was shut down.

“And from what I found out is that apparently there were 10 billion passwords hacked, and Midland Crime Stoppers was one of them,” she said. And so we were unable to recover it.”

LifeLock reported the hacked passwords were published last Thursday “on a popular hacking website” and the new page came online Wednesday. Valenzuela said it hopes to continue informing local citizens.

“Whether they knew anything about a crime or a fugitive, they just wanted to be aware of what’s going on in their community. And I think that our community members want to help whenever they can.”

Citizens are not the only users of the page…police officers do as well.

“Whenever they run out of leads, they come to us. And sometimes, within an hour of posting, they’ve identified the suspect.”

If you want to follow the new page, you can at this link. Valenzuela said the new page’s website sign was inspired by its 694-TIPS hotline for reporting crimes.

Cybersecurity experts say ways to promote online safety include using strong passwords, updating your software and using multifactor authentication.