According to this email, which appears to be an official Facebook notification, your account has been temporarily locked.
The email explains that Facebook is trying to ensure that everyone on Facebook is using their real identity and the company therefore needs you to click a link to complete a security check. Supposedly, when you complete the security check, you will regain access to your account.
The email features the familiar blue and white Facebook colour scheme and logo.
Email is Not From Facebook – Phishing Scam
However, the email is not from Facebook and your account has not been locked as claimed.
In fact, the email is a phishing scam designed to steal your Facebook login details.
If you click the link in the fake message, you will be taken to a fraudulent website designed to emulate a genuine Facebook login page. If you enter your login details on the fake page, you may then be taken to a second page that asks for personal and financial information. The page will claim that Facebook needs this information to confirm your identity.
A final page may then inform you that the security check is complete and account access has been restored.
But, alas, the criminals behind this phishing campaign can collect all of the information you have submitted and use it to hijack your Facebook account, conduct fraudulent transactions in your name, and possibly even steal your identity.
Don’t Confuse This Scam With Legitimate Facebook ‘Account Locked’ Popup
While this email is a scam, it should be noted that Facebook may display an ‘account temporarily locked’ message if the company needs you to verify your identity or if its security systems suspect that your computer has a malware infection.
However, these legitimate Facebook ‘account locked’ messages will popup on your screen when you try to login to your account.
Be wary of any email that claims that there is an issue with your Facebook account and you must click a link or open an attached file to resolve the issue.
To check, just login to your Facebook account as you normally would. If the warning is genuine, you will receive a legitimate Facebook notification when you attempt to login.
Example
Subject: Your account is temporarily locked
Your account is temporarily locked
We’re working hard to make sure that everyone on Facebook uses their real identity.
In order to regain access to your account, click here and complete the security check.
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
