Oct 17 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc has tentatively concluded that a recent hack that affected millions of accounts was perpetrated by spammers, and not a nation-state, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Facebook believes the attackers were spammers masquerading as a digital marketing company, the Journal reported. https://on.wsj.com/2OvMarh

The social media company did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Last week, Facebook said cyber attackers had stolen data from 29 million Facebook accounts using an automated program that moved from one friend to the next, adding that the data theft hit fewer than the 50 million profiles it initially reported. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)