Facebook is a free social networking website supporting over one billion individual users, groups and businesses worldwide.

Facebook’s wide reach and usership as well as the advertising and messaging services embedded in the platform make it a valuable tool for criminals. By reviewing your Facebook security settings and being conscious of how you use Facebook you can mitigate against the risks posed by those who misuse the platform.

Prevention

Preventing Facebook account problems for personal accounts

Check out the advice from Facebook on personal account security.
Ensure you are using the correct website before logging in.
Choose a secure password you do not use for other online accounts.
Use two factor authentication (2FA) to login, and choose a third-party authentication app.
Log out of Facebook from shared computers.
Be careful when choosing whether to accept a Facebook friend. Avoid clicking bait links that appear in your feed and in messages.
If you are prompted to login to your account by clicking on articles, do not; they may use software that captures your information.
Set up trusted contacts who can send your recovery codes and URL links if you ever get locked out of your account. Make sure these are people you know well, such as family members or long-time friends who you meet regularly in person, not someone you know only online.
Find the security settings by following the instructions on Meta's page.

Preventing Facebook account problems for business accounts

Check out the advice from Facebook on business account security.
Check out the IDCARE Fact Sheet on Facebook business account security.

Detection

There are two main problems reported to IDCARE about Facebook accounts.

Someone has accessed or taken over your account, meaning that:

You can no longer login to your account as your email address and/or password has been changed.
Your personal information has changed, such as your birthday or the name of your account.
Posts appear that you did not write.
Messages have been sent from your account that you did not write.
You have new friends that you did not accept.
Friend requests have been sent from your account to unknown people.
Your friends, family or other businesses report receiving strange messages from your account.
You receive an alert that your Facebook account has been logged into from a device or location unknown to you.
Changes are made to your linked accounts, such as Facebook Marketplace, Messenger or Instagram.
You see new accounts linked to your Facebook account.
You see a new Facebook account linked to your Instagram or Facebook Marketplace accounts.

Someone is impersonating you or your business. This is commonly detected because:

You see another Facebook profile using the same name (personal or business) and some of your photos, logos or posts.
You don’t have a Facebook account, but you learn about one that uses your photos, personal information, or business details.
Friends or customers tell you they have been receiving friend requests from a Facebook account with the same name.
You do a reverse image search of one of your own photos and see it appears in a different Facebook account. When you go to that account, you see that it is claiming to be you or your business.

Response

Contact Facebook immediately if someone has gained access to your account, is impersonating your Facebook account, or has created a Facebook account impersonating you or your business but you don’t use a Facebook account.
Check out Facebook’s Fact Sheet which we have posted on the IDCARE website.
If you have stored your credit card details on Facebook or linked accounts, contact the issuer immediately to cancel the card.
Notify the relevant document issuing organisations for any of the credentials that may have been stored in your account.
Let your friends, family and customers know that your account has been accessed or impersonated, using a method other than Facebook or its linked accounts.

For additional support or information, contact IDCARE by submitting a Get Help Form or call 1800 595 160 (Aus) or 0800 121 068 (NZ).

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