Early in March, a group of Facebook users received a mysterious, spam-like email titled “Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect” and informing them that they needed to activate the Facebook Protect feature (which they could do by clicking a link in the email) by a certain date or risk being locked out.
According to Facebook, the initiative is a “security program for individuals who are more susceptible to being targeted by malevolent hackers, such as human rights campaigners, journalists, and government officials.” It’s intended to perform things like monitor those accounts for hacking threats and protect them with two-factor authentication (2FA).
Unfortunately, the email sent by Facebook from the address [email protected] resembled a fairly frequent type of spam and hence was likely ignored by a large number of people.
It was not, in fact, spam. Indeed, it was genuine. For many people, the first deadline to meet was on Thursday, March 17th. And now they’ve been locked out of their Facebook accounts — and are having difficulty regaining access using the process Facebook has offered.
Those who did not activate Facebook Protect by the deadline are supposedly receiving an email explaining why they are unable to access their accounts and providing assistance inactivating it.
Additionally, there have been several reports on Twitter and other social media platforms that people are being locked out of their accounts despite having the necessary precautions.
Others stated that they were unable to complete the activation process even prior to the deadline, thereby locking themselves out of their accounts.
