Locked out of Facebook - what a pain

[disneysteve]

At some point yesterday, my FB account got locked due to "unusual activity" meaning someone probably tried to hack my account. While I appreciate the security, the process to restore access leaves much to be desired. And yes this is all directly with FB online or on the app so I know it's legit.

Yesterday I followed the steps for them to email me a code and then send them a photo ID. I sent my license only to get a message a few minutes later that they weren't able to use that for some reason and they needed something else so I sent my passport. As of this morning, my account was still locked so I tried the online chat. They sent me a code and I had to send a video of me showing that code with my face and hand visible. I did that and finally got a message with an account recovery code. I followed those steps but keep getting stuck on the screen asking for a login code from my phone. I have not gotten any other code and have no way to get past that step of the recovery process. Online chat is currently unavailable so I'm stuck.

I know some of you don't use FB much or at all but I use it a lot. It's the primary way I keep in touch with friends and family around the world. We use it to communicate at work. I sell on FB Marketplace. I help run an ebay reseller group. And just generally use it for local and other information (dining, shopping, special events, etc.).

Hopefully chat will become available later today and I'll be able to find someone who can actually help.

[myrdale]

https://www.savingadvice.com/forums/forum/financial-chit-chat/general-discussion/742814-usb-security-keys

I keep one Yubikey in my truck and one in my safety deposit box. Of course nothing is full proof, but I think this is pretty close.

Any time I log onto Facebook from a new device, I have to have plug in the Yubikey. For the cell phone I have a USB dongle.

[disneysteve]

https://www.savingadvice.com/forums/...-security-keys

I keep one Yubikey in my truck and one in my safety deposit box. Of course nothing is full proof, but I think this is pretty close.

Any time I log onto Facebook from a new device, I have to have plug in the Yubikey. For the cell phone I have a USB dongle.

I remember that thread. Of course, it is of no use to me now since I'm locked out of the account. Hopefully I can get through to someone eventually and restore access. I've gotten locked out before but never had this much trouble getting back in.

[bjl584]

That's never happened to me. I browse on there but don't use it too much for anything but a time waster.

[disneysteve]

That's never happened to me. I browse on there but don't use it too much for anything but a time waster.

I get that, but it's actually incredibly useful in many ways. I definitely turn to it often for help with my ebay business. Our provider team at work has a private group chat where we discuss various issues and help each other out. I literally have friends around the world (England, Spain, Australia, etc.) and use it to communicate with them, as well as everyone here in the US. Our synagogue broadcasts services on FB and I watch them occasionally. Of course I use it for entertainment too. There are a few games I play pretty much daily that are linked to my FB account so right now I either can't play them at all or can't fully access my account and bonuses and such. FB is almost always where I learn that someone I know has died and what the funeral arrangements are. It's where I find yard sales and various special events like craft fairs and food truck festivals and free concerts and things like that. I follow our township feed and the police department and often learn of road closures or delays in real time. Just yesterday I made $50 selling an old sewing machine on Marketplace. So losing access to my account is a big deal for me. It's very much my window to the world.

[ua_guy]

Ah, the dreaded FB security doom-loop. Log in using the code sent to your phone. Except there's no code. It used to be, you'd use your phone, also logged into FB, to use an obscure menu option to generate a one-time login code, to use and approve login on a separate device. You may want to do some searching on that to see if it's useful next time they unlock your account.

I've about had it with FB. Only use it to keep in touch with family at this point. The "suggested for you" stuff is horrifying, and it can't be turned off. I've reported some of the content. I've reported fake/scam pages. None of it ever works to have that stuff removed, even disgusting stuff. And then yesterday my cousin was slapped by FB algorithm-jail for posting a photo of his new doormat which simply said "yes, Amazon, this house again!" FB is well past its prime.

[disneysteve]

FB is well past its prime.

That’s easy to say but FB has over 3 billion active users. That’s a pretty significant percentage of the planet. You may not like it but clearly lots of people do.

[ua_guy]

That’s easy to say but FB has over 3 billion active users. That’s a pretty significant percentage of the planet. You may not like it but clearly lots of people do.

No disagreement, but the data is also clear that my generation isn't as active or interested compared to the past, and younger generations are passing it over for other platforms. Still plenty of users. Same with Twitter.

But, how many of those 3 Billion active users are bots?

[disneysteve]

No disagreement, but the data is also clear that my generation isn't as active or interested compared to the past, and younger generations are passing it over for other platforms. Still plenty of users. Same with Twitter.

I think FB has always been more heavily older people. I joked with DD years ago that I've lost touch with more people in my life than she's ever known, so having a platform where we could reconnect was much more appealing to my generation than to hers, even 15 years ago. She didn't need to "reconnect" with anyone when she was in middle school but I had tons of friends I had lost touch with until FB came along.

My daughter is 28 now. She uses FB, Instagram, Twitter, and probably some others though I know those are her big 3. She used to use Snapchat a lot but I think that one has fallen out of favor.

[myrdale]

But, how many of those 3 Billion active users are bots?

Probably more than half.

How many are duplicate or dead accounts?

I know a woman with at least 5 different accounts. I know of another guy who is up to 15 or so at last count.

Even with all that fluff, it is still crazy popular.

Saying MySpace is past it's prime is fair, Facebook I don't know.

[myrdale]

So losing access to my account is a big deal for me. It's very much my window to the world.

Worst case scenario.... you can always make another account.

I didn't say it didn't suck. I didn't say it was convenient.

[disneysteve]

Worst case scenario.... you can always make another account.

Yep. I'm already thinking about that. Rebuilding my account will be quite an effort though. Just rebuilding my friends list (and having people not think it's spam when they get a new invite from me) will be step one but also rejoining all of the groups I'm active in, resetting other apps that are linked to my FB account, etc. I'd also lose all of my Marketplace listings and have to start from scratch with those.

[disneysteve]

No disagreement, but the data is also clear that my generation isn't as active or interested compared to the past, and younger generations are passing it over for other platforms.

I was curious about this so did a little searching. According to an article from February 2024, the largest demographic of FB users as of January 2023 was men from 25-34 at 17.6% of the user base. The second largest demographic was men from 18-24 (no % given). So it appears that younger folks are still using FB quite heavily.

[myrdale]

One website worth checking out is haveibeenpwned.com

You input your email address, and the site searches your email address against various data breaches. My personal email address is listed in the following:

Cit0day: Email address, Passwords
Collection#1: Email address, Passwords
Data Enrichment Exposure From PDL Customer: Email address, Employers, Geographic Location, SocialMedia Profiles
Evite: Date of Birth, Email address,, Genders, Names, Passwords, Phone Numbers, Physical Address
Exploit.In : Email Addresses, Passwords
Gravatar: Email Addresses, Names, Usernames
Instant Checkmate: Email Addresses, Names, Passwords, Phone numbers
MySpace: Email addresses, Passwords, Usernames
Zynga: Email addresses, Passwords, Phone Numbers, Usernames

In most all of these breaches, we are talking about 100M to over 1B in accounts comprised, so I am a drop in the bucket.

One important reason for having different passwords for every site you use is that if someone has your information from one of those list, and they try your log in for MySpace on your bank's website or Facebook, if they try enough peoples', sooner or later they will get a match.

[disneysteve]

One website worth checking out is haveibeenpwned.com

You input your email address, and the site searches your email address against various data breaches. My personal email address is listed in the following:

15 data breaches and 2 pastes for me. No big surprise there. I've been notified numerous times over the years that my info may have been part of a breach. It's pretty commonplace at this point.