Did you get an email supposedly from Facebook saying that your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect? Email may also create a compelling necessity to enable Facebook Protect soon; Otherwise, your account will be closed, which is why it looks suspicious.
The email is legitimate, and parent company Meta has sent it to accounts with a broader reach on Facebook, but it may still sound like a scam to you. What are your options to verify its legality? And how should you respond if it turns out to be a scam?
Security@facebookmail.com is the email address that Facebook uses to send security-related emails to its users. If you receive an email from the same email address with the same email domain (facebookmail), it is legitimate and originated from Facebook. You must follow the instructions in the email.
Facebook was sending security email to accounts with large audiences, running canonical pages, or of great importance in the community, particularly from an address that read “security@facebookmail.com”.
In the email, Facebook says the person receiving it has broader access on the platform, so they may be more vulnerable to attacks from cybercriminals. To counter this, the email encourages them to enable Facebook Protect on their account, a feature exclusive to limited users.
Although the general content of the email looks authentic, it loses some credibility when users are told that they will be banned from their accounts if they do not activate Facebook Protect by a certain date. While this urgency should raise suspicion, rest assured that the official Facebook email does not contain this urgency clause.
Facebook cares more about your privacy and wants you to enable the relatively new Facebook Protect feature to make your account more secure. It’s that easy!
But could an email asking you to enable Facebook Protect be a scam, too? It is possible…
Is Facebook Protect Email a scam?
When companies like Meta send out a specific email to a large audience, scammers use it as a springboard to carry out phishing attacks. They make an email look official and use the same context to deceive users, and this may also be the case with the Facebook Protect email you just received – although the chances are relatively slim at the moment.
In light of this, you should ensure that the email asking you to enable Facebook Protect comes from Facebook itself, so you can avoid being scammed. But how can you verify that?
How to validate an email you received from Facebook
Run the following checks to validate the email you received from Facebook:
- In most cases, Facebook sends the email to enable Facebook Protect by the email address, “security@facebookmail.com”. Is the email address you received the email from different from this? If so, you may be dealing with a scam.
- Facebook does not include a link in the email to enable Facebook Protect, nor does it direct users to log in directly from the email. So if the email you received contains links and buttons, this is a scam.
- Facebook also allows users to view recent emails they’ve received in their account’s security settings. This is another way to check the legitimacy of an email. For this, log in to your account, and click profile icon In the upper-right corner, go to Settings & Privacy > Settingsthen tap Security and login in the left sidebar.
Next, tap Opinion button next to See recent emails from Facebook under advanced.
If the same email you received appears here, it is official. Otherwise, it is a scam.
How to Reply to a Legal Facebook Protection Email
If the email you received from Facebook asking you to enable Facebook Protect meets all three conditions above, enable it for your security. You can enable Facebook Protect by following these steps:
- Log in to your account.
- Click on profile icon in the upper right corner.
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings.
- tap on Security and login tab in the left sidebar.
- Click start button next to Facebook protection.
- Next, follow the onscreen instructions to activate Facebook Protect.
Facebook Protect is only available to a limited number of Facebook users. Facebook removes this feature from certain accounts when it feels the account no longer meets its enjoyment criteria. If you can’t find this option even though it was enabled before, it means that your account no longer meets the eligibility criteria. So don’t worry it was a scam!
How to reply to fake email to protect Facebook
If the email you supposedly received from Facebook asking you to enable Facebook Protect does not meet the above conditions, then this is a scam.
Do not click on any link or button that claims to help you activate Facebook Protect or log in. Do not open any attachments in the email. Moreover, block the sender who sent the email and delete the message.
What to do if you fall into a fake Facebook email protection scam
If scammers take advantage of you and you fall for the fake Facebook Protect email scam, you must take immediate action to minimize the harm they may cause. If your account has been hacked after clicking a link in an email, don’t waste any time getting your account back.
Once you restore it successfully, make sure that you do not make any changes to the admin permissions on your Facebook pages; review the latest posts made through your account; review comments made via your profile; and analyze any other activity that may negatively affect your reputation.
Send a message to your friends to tell them what happened and warn them not to follow up on anything they’ve received from your end during the time you don’t have access to your account. You should also unlink any apps or websites where your account was used to log in. These are the simple things that you should do if your Facebook account has been hacked.
If you clicked on a link in the email and downloaded a program, delete it and run a malware scan to make sure your device is not infected.
Keep your eyes open for scam emails
Scammers are very adept at mimicking official emails and making them appear legitimate. We hope that knowing the context of Facebook security email can help you distinguish between fake emails and real messages. Additionally, these tips will help you limit the damage if you accidentally fall victim to these phishing emails.
