Fake accounts can be a real scourge on the average user experience all in all, and a big part of the reason why this is the case has to do with how fake accounts can be used to scam people in a lot of different ways. This is why the feature that allows you to report fake accounts on Facebook is such an integral part of the user experience and can lead to a clean up of fake accounts that the social network really needs on a regular basis at this point in time.
That being said, users that have been reporting profiles that seem to be fake are apparently getting locked out of their own Facebook accounts. This has happened quite a few times by now, and users have taken to Twitter to express their displeasure about the situation that they are currently in.
What basically happens is that a user reports a specific account and thirty minutes after the reporting process has been completed they find themselves signed out of their own accounts. When they try to sign in they see an error that states that they need to prove their identity before they are allowed to proceed.
If this weren’t bad enough, users that try to show identification in order to access their account find yet another error preventing this process from being completed. This has lead to widespread frustration among Facebook users, and with the problem having gone on for several days at this point and Facebook failing to respond to complaints, a lot of users have found themselves at their wits end.
This is probably some kind of glitch but it is definitely odd that so many users that were simply trying to make Facebook a better and more wholesome place ended up having to forego their own usage of the service for several days on end.
Facebook informed media outlets that it has fixed the bug, explaining that it inadvertently required some users to verify their identity but did not shed much light on the root cause.
Read next: EU Ruling will Affect Legitimate and Legal Speech, Facebook Says
That being said, users that have been reporting profiles that seem to be fake are apparently getting locked out of their own Facebook accounts. This has happened quite a few times by now, and users have taken to Twitter to express their displeasure about the situation that they are currently in.
What basically happens is that a user reports a specific account and thirty minutes after the reporting process has been completed they find themselves signed out of their own accounts. When they try to sign in they see an error that states that they need to prove their identity before they are allowed to proceed.
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If this weren’t bad enough, users that try to show identification in order to access their account find yet another error preventing this process from being completed. This has lead to widespread frustration among Facebook users, and with the problem having gone on for several days at this point and Facebook failing to respond to complaints, a lot of users have found themselves at their wits end.
#FacebookLockout @Facebook day 4 and no account. I reported a clone account, and my profile has disappears. Please help pic.twitter.com/8W8WG54FLY— Lisa Freeman (@grieftrip) October 14, 2019
PSA: don't report fake accounts on @Facebook. They will lock your account, and their ID verification system doesn't work.— Martin Settle (@elttesitram) October 13, 2019
I reported a scam account masquerading as a friend, and within 2 hours I was locked out. 24 hours now...#FacebookLockout
Please RT
Constantly this. Simply creating a new account is not realistic plus I have 15 years of posts, photos, information on there. Please help, @facebook @fbsecurity #facebooklockout pic.twitter.com/evxbLiKAgc— Angela Marzolo (@marzoang) October 13, 2019
#FacebookLockout #catch22— Michelle Gruesbeck (@mgruesbeck) October 14, 2019
-reported scammers & FB froze/locked accounts (not scammers)
-@facebook asked us to confirm w/ID, but glitch prevents ID upload/verification
-can't login to report the problem w/o verification
-can't appeal b/c our accounts aren't technically disabled
This is an Improvement! Stuck in upload ID page loop but found out that I’ve uploaded 170 ID’s. At least the images are going somewhere 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ please help @facebook #facebookdown #FacebookLockout @fbsecurity pic.twitter.com/Q1FXb2mwKe— Melanie Lyons (@iammellyons) October 14, 2019
This is probably some kind of glitch but it is definitely odd that so many users that were simply trying to make Facebook a better and more wholesome place ended up having to forego their own usage of the service for several days on end.
Facebook informed media outlets that it has fixed the bug, explaining that it inadvertently required some users to verify their identity but did not shed much light on the root cause.
Read next: EU Ruling will Affect Legitimate and Legal Speech, Facebook Says
