Facebook is locking out people who didn’t activate Facebook Protect

Right off the bat in March, a lot of Facebook clients got a strange, spam-like email named “Your record requires progressed security from Facebook Protect” and letting them know that they were expected to turn on the Facebook Protect highlight (which they could do by hitting a connection in the email) by a particular date, or they would be kept out of their record.

The program, according to Facebook, is a “security program for gatherings that are bound to be designated by malignant programmers, like basic liberties safeguards, writers, and government authorities.” It’s intended to guarantee those records are observed for hacking dangers and safeguard them by two-factor validation (2FA).

Tragically, the email that Facebook sent from the address [email protected] resembled a generally standard type of spam, as it’s plausible that many individuals disregarded it.

It wasn’t spammed. It was genuine. The principal cutoff time to hit for some individuals was Thursday, March seventeenth. Furthermore, presently, they are kept out of their Facebook accounts – and are experiencing difficulty with the interaction that Facebook has given to get them back in.

Those who did not activate Facebook Protect before their deadline gets a message explaining why they can’t get into their accounts and offering to help them turn it on. However, it’s not always working:

I got locked out from Facebook indefinitely today because I didn’t respond to emails from FB (that looked like a scam) about its new Facebook Protect system, which I was required to enable by today. So far, the text and security key options don’t work, many report. pic.twitter.com/0aXbiqzLv7

— Liv. (@Olivia_Thiessen) March 18, 2022

There have also been various complaints on Twitter and other social networking venues that people are being locked out of their accounts even if they have the appropriate safeguards. Some say that their text-based 2FA is not working:

Dear @FacebookApp: Your new Facebook Protect, which I didn’t ask for, keeps texting me an identical two-factor verification code, which continues to not work. I’m now effectively locked out of my account. This is heightened security? Guess I’ll spend more time on Twitter… @Meta

— Mike Morrell (@RealMikeMorrell) March 18, 2022

Others complained that they couldn’t get through the activation process even before the deadline and so are effectively locked out of their accounts:

this Facebook protect thing is so annoying because it’s not letting me turn it on and I need Facebook for work so I’m really hoping Facebook fixes the stupid code

— Daniela (@itzzdaniela) March 16, 2022