Earlier this month, a couple of Facebook users got an email titled "Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect," telling them that they need to turn on the Facebook Protect feature by a certain date, or they would be locked out of their account.
Since the email seemed like spam, several users did not pay any attention to it. Unfortunately, the email was real, and some are now facing the consequences.
Facebook Users Locked Out of Their Account
According to The Verge., Facebook Protect is a security program for groups of people that are more likely to be targeted by hackers and online criminals, like journalists, human rights defenders, and government officials.
The program is meant to do things to make sure that the accounts are monitored for hacking threats and that they are protected by the site's two-factor authentication or 2FA.
The reason why users thought the email was spam is that it was sent from the address security@facebookmail.com resembled a common form of spam, and so it is probable that many people ignored it.
The email was, in fact, real. The first deadline to activate the program was Mar. 17, and a lot of people had missed it.
Now, they are locked out of their accounts, and they are having trouble with the process that Facebook has given to get them back in.
Those who did not activate Facebook Protect before Mar. 17 are getting a message explaining why they can't get into their accounts and offering to help them activate it. However, some users said that the process is not always working.
Some users have also voiced their complaints on Twitter and other social networking sites that people are being locked out of their accounts even if they do have the much-needed safeguards. Some say that their 2FA is just not working at all.
Others complained that they could not get through the activation process even before the deadline, and so they were locked out of their personal accounts.
How to Fix Log-In Problem with Facebook Protect
If you are having trouble logging in to your Facebook account after the site's authentication process locked out, you can follow this step-by-step guide so you can get your 2FA authorization codes from Facebook, according to WBSM.
First, open "Settings" in your Facebook account. Next, click on "Phone," then select "Blocked Contact." Then choose each blocked contact and unblock all of your blocked contacts, then request another authentication code from Facebook.
What If You Are Not Asked to Activate Facebook Protect?
According to PCMag, if you were not notified by Facebook to enable Facebook Protect, there isn't any action that you need to take. The option to enable the protect feature in your settings won't even be there until Facebook asks you to sign up.
Facebook is reportedly expanding the program globally this year, but how the expansion will look is still not clear. In the meantime, the most you can do is to set up the 2FA authentication if you have not done that already.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
