When Linda’s Facebook account was hacked, she knew exactly what to do: she quickly reset the password, then logged in to assess the damage.
Someone used her account to create a fake business at a non-existent address, then ran ads in Chinese. She blocked ads, knowing that hackers stole her credit card to pay for advertising. She contacted Facebook and after several weeks in a row, she realized Facebook almost did nothing to help her get rid of the advertising accounts.
“I can’t delete credit cards or accounts,” Linda said. “Facebook support team said they could not delete them, this seems a blatant lie.”
Billions of users almost never contact and ask anything with Facebook when their account is hacked or compromised. Facebook uses automated systems to detect suspicious activity and reset the password for everyone, but besides that, almost Facebook doesn’t do anything!
Facebook has just been fined $ 5 billion by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and added a new set of security rules, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg said will require hundreds of engineers. However, with customer support – users who are confused or need help after having hacked their accounts – Facebook has almost nothing.
Contacting a Facebook employee is so difficult that scammers have created fake help lines on Facebook, to steal user data or money.
The Facebook Help Center does not give you a clear way to contact Facebook support directly. Instead, users must read the FAQ, chatbot and forum – not a real person of Facebook.
This is a problem with Facebook’s customer service provision: Facebook users are not Facebook customers. In addition to advertisers who actually pay for Facebook, most users are products – Facebook wants their data to be used to target ads. That means there is little incentive for Facebook to do better in case the user’s Facebook account is hacked.
Christine Bannan, a consumer protection consultant at the Electronic Information Security Center, said it would be very interested in improving their security activities. However, Facebook’s history has shown that companies are more interested in growth and advertising revenue, than for security issues.
Bryan Haskins, a regular Facebook user, uses ads on Facebook to promote his two businesses. Haskins has been locked out of the account earlier this month. Even with Facebook’s automated tools, he couldn’t reactivate his account – and was stuck, because of Facebook’s support often through Messenger, while being blocked he couldn’t access Messenger. .
“I searched every possible phone number for Facebook to seek help, however, their help center focused on helping you after you logged in,” he said. “While, I cannot login”.
Unable to log in, his ads still run – and his credit card is still charged – but he can’t respond if a potential customer text him. He tried emailing Facebook’s advertising and fraudulent email addresses, sending them messages on Instagram, tagging them in tweets, but still not getting anything.
“I was lost in the Facebook world,” he said.
After a week and a half, he finally regained access to his account – but he never heard Facebook talk about why he lost access.
Most users are very disappointed with Facebook’s support process when they encounter problems with the account. Recently, Facebook has many scandals related to security of user information and scandals about rampant rumors on social networks. Most recently, the FTC’s $ 5 billion fine, according to CNBC, is the biggest penalty in history that FTC has set for a technology company. The previous highest level was 22.5 million USD for Google in 2012. The US $ 5 billion penalty is approximately 9% of the company’s 2018 revenue.
Under an agreement with FTC, Facebook agrees to accept more supervision. Facebook’s board of directors will establish a security monitoring committee, including independent members who cannot be fired from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Members must ensure that the social network complies with the FTC agreement if it does not want to be personally responsible. Zuckerberg is also required to certify that the company complies with the quarterly and yearly regulations. If the certificate is wrong, Facebook CEO and employees must be personally responsible, including civil and criminal penalties.
Digital Trends site said they contacted Facebook to ask about this issue, as well as the process of handling users’ complaints and inquiries; How many Facebook employees support users, whether they are full-time employees or just contract employees; Facebook intends to expand the user support force after a $ 5 billion fine of the FTC, however, no Facebook answers are returned.
“I understand that Facebook can be difficult due to overload, but I think they really need to invest in a more reasonable customer service,” said Jillian York, a social networking expert. “With the current situation, Facebook is making a statement that they really do not support anyone.”