A Mighty Fortress is Our Facebook
April 27, 2022 11:45 AM Subscribe
A week ago I got signed out of all my online accounts, probably because I accidentally deleted cookies or some such. I've managed to get back into everything but Facebook, on which process I've hit nothing but brick walls. Can anyone help?
Here's how the process is playing out...
When I try to login to Facebook and enter my email and password, I get a message saying I need to "enter the 6-digit code from my Code Generator or 3rd party app below". But I've received no such code. I don't have a cell phone, and I suppose what they've done is texted it to my landline number.
I then click on "need another way to authenticate", and I get these options (link goes to a screen cap I've posted on Twitter). Again, I don't have a cell phone, or any other device, so I click on "other options".
Facebook tells me they'll have to confirm my identity "another way", and I get this screen (again, link goes to a screen cap I've posted on Twitter).
I click "next", and am prompted to enter my email address twice, so I do. Facebook sends a confirmation code to my email address and prompts me to enter it, which I do. Then Facebook prompts me to select one item from a list of government-issued ID, and I select passport.
Then my webcam comes on. I try to get it to take a picture of my passport, but it won't work. First it says to move the ID closer to the screen (I do), then to hold it up to the web camera (I do), and nothing happens -- I can see myself and my passport onscreen, but there's no image capture. Sometimes it says there's not enough light, but it's daylight, I've got all the lights in the room on, and my screen is set to 100% brightness, so wtf. After some experimentation and much frustration, I end up cancelling.
So, the next thing I tried was to click on the "I don't have any of these" option when Facebook gives me a list of accepted government-issued IDs. After some more jumping through hopes, I'm given a way to upload .jpgs of accepted forms of ID. I submit photos of my passport and of my electrical bill in which my name, birthdate, photo, or name and address can be clearly seen. And then I get a message from Facebook that says, "We can’t give you access to this account or help with your request until we receive an accepted form of ID that matches the information listed on the account", which makes no sense, as their accepted forms of ID information clearly state that a passport and a utility bill are accepted forms of ID. I tried a second time to upload the .jpgs, and had the same result.
I'm at a loss as to how to proceed, and there seems to be no way to contact Facebook directly for help. Can anyone advise me on how to proceed?
Here's how the process is playing out...
When I try to login to Facebook and enter my email and password, I get a message saying I need to "enter the 6-digit code from my Code Generator or 3rd party app below". But I've received no such code. I don't have a cell phone, and I suppose what they've done is texted it to my landline number.
I then click on "need another way to authenticate", and I get these options (link goes to a screen cap I've posted on Twitter). Again, I don't have a cell phone, or any other device, so I click on "other options".
Facebook tells me they'll have to confirm my identity "another way", and I get this screen (again, link goes to a screen cap I've posted on Twitter).
I click "next", and am prompted to enter my email address twice, so I do. Facebook sends a confirmation code to my email address and prompts me to enter it, which I do. Then Facebook prompts me to select one item from a list of government-issued ID, and I select passport.
Then my webcam comes on. I try to get it to take a picture of my passport, but it won't work. First it says to move the ID closer to the screen (I do), then to hold it up to the web camera (I do), and nothing happens -- I can see myself and my passport onscreen, but there's no image capture. Sometimes it says there's not enough light, but it's daylight, I've got all the lights in the room on, and my screen is set to 100% brightness, so wtf. After some experimentation and much frustration, I end up cancelling.
So, the next thing I tried was to click on the "I don't have any of these" option when Facebook gives me a list of accepted government-issued IDs. After some more jumping through hopes, I'm given a way to upload .jpgs of accepted forms of ID. I submit photos of my passport and of my electrical bill in which my name, birthdate, photo, or name and address can be clearly seen. And then I get a message from Facebook that says, "We can’t give you access to this account or help with your request until we receive an accepted form of ID that matches the information listed on the account", which makes no sense, as their accepted forms of ID information clearly state that a passport and a utility bill are accepted forms of ID. I tried a second time to upload the .jpgs, and had the same result.
I'm at a loss as to how to proceed, and there seems to be no way to contact Facebook directly for help. Can anyone advise me on how to proceed?
Passport?! Yikes. I have no idea if Facebook really does ask for passports to verify identity, maybe it's a new thing, but it is setting off lots of alarm bells in my head.
When I was locked out of a Facebook account in 2017, it asked me to verify my identity with my email address and by typing in the names of three friends I had recently interacted with. Then it showed me a bunch of profile pics and asked me to select which ones belong to my friends. There was no need for passports or any other real ID.
I'm sorry that I can't directly answer your question, alas, since I never did get access to the account I got locked out of.
posted by MiraK at 12:03 PM on April 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
When I was locked out of a Facebook account in 2017, it asked me to verify my identity with my email address and by typing in the names of three friends I had recently interacted with. Then it showed me a bunch of profile pics and asked me to select which ones belong to my friends. There was no need for passports or any other real ID.
I'm sorry that I can't directly answer your question, alas, since I never did get access to the account I got locked out of.
posted by MiraK at 12:03 PM on April 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
This exact same thing is going on with me and I am definitely on Facebook except they want my driver's license, not my passport.
posted by all about eevee at 12:09 PM on April 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by all about eevee at 12:09 PM on April 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
xedrik, MiraK, Facebook does indeed ask for your ID documents to prove who you are.
orangeswan, by any chance, did you set up recovery codes for Facebook? They're 8- or 10-digit codes that you can paste into the box that asks for 6-digit codes to get in. That's how I ultimately got back into my Facebook account after I started to set up 2-factor authentication and then failed to actually install the necessary app. I will note that I submitted my drivers license as ID in desperation before I remembered the recovery codes I had, and they never got back to me about that, which makes me excessively angry.
posted by telophase at 12:44 PM on April 27, 2022
orangeswan, by any chance, did you set up recovery codes for Facebook? They're 8- or 10-digit codes that you can paste into the box that asks for 6-digit codes to get in. That's how I ultimately got back into my Facebook account after I started to set up 2-factor authentication and then failed to actually install the necessary app. I will note that I submitted my drivers license as ID in desperation before I remembered the recovery codes I had, and they never got back to me about that, which makes me excessively angry.
posted by telophase at 12:44 PM on April 27, 2022
Don't worry. You can fix this. I'm on my phone so I can't link to it, but I asked this same question last August. Click on my profile to find the question and see the answers there, but in a nutshell, I kept going through the support links and finally Facebook emailed me a one time login that got me around the code generator nonsense. And then I got everything back!
I remember having trouble uploading my picture too. I didn't go anything different....I just did the same thing over and over and finally it just worked.
posted by silverstatue at 3:04 PM on April 27, 2022
I remember having trouble uploading my picture too. I didn't go anything different....I just did the same thing over and over and finally it just worked.
posted by silverstatue at 3:04 PM on April 27, 2022
Response by poster: I've been trying to resubmit my ID, but I'm getting an automatically generated response that says, "We can't accept this photo. Check the photo requirements and submit an image clearly showing your official ID." I don't think an actual person is looking at the photos. They are just being auto-rejected for some bullshit reason.
I think what I'll do is keep retaking, and resubmitting, photos of my ID. I'll use photos of my passport and of my university diploma.
posted by orange swan at 5:01 PM on April 27, 2022
I think what I'll do is keep retaking, and resubmitting, photos of my ID. I'll use photos of my passport and of my university diploma.
posted by orange swan at 5:01 PM on April 27, 2022
Response by poster: Still trying to resubmit my documentation, and I keep getting a message that says, "We can’t give you access to this account or help with your request until we receive an accepted form of ID that matches the information listed on the account."
IT CLEARLY FUCKING SAYS ON THEIR WEBSITE THAT A PASSORT AND A DIPLOMA ARE ACCEPTED FORMS OF ID.
posted by orange swan at 9:11 PM on April 30, 2022
IT CLEARLY FUCKING SAYS ON THEIR WEBSITE THAT A PASSORT AND A DIPLOMA ARE ACCEPTED FORMS OF ID.
posted by orange swan at 9:11 PM on April 30, 2022
Response by poster: Still trying, and I'm also repeatedly tweeting at Facebook's Twitter account asking for an actual human being to respond, but I'm giving up hope. It is so completely shitty that I should have to lose a 15-year-old account because of Facebook's bullshit security auto mechanisms.
There's an account on Twitter that purports to help with these issues, and when I messaged the person, they replied:
I will be needing a software to login for work so I can bypass the securities attached to your account
The software that will enable me to login for work will cost you just the sum of $150
Once I confirm your payment I will purchase the software and start processing immediately which will take few minutes your account will be recovered successful
I noped out of going that route.
posted by orange swan at 5:45 PM on May 1, 2022
There's an account on Twitter that purports to help with these issues, and when I messaged the person, they replied:
I will be needing a software to login for work so I can bypass the securities attached to your account
The software that will enable me to login for work will cost you just the sum of $150
Once I confirm your payment I will purchase the software and start processing immediately which will take few minutes your account will be recovered successful
I noped out of going that route.
posted by orange swan at 5:45 PM on May 1, 2022
Best answer: Finally got my account back ten minutes ago! And after all the efforts I made to get my account back (i.e., loading the FB app on my laptop in an effort to access the code generator, taking my laptop outside in the middle of the day to get it to take a screencap of my passport when it just kept telling me there was "not enough light" to take the image, haranguing the Facebook account on Twitter), you know what finally worked?
Submitting the same photo of my passport twice instead of submitting the exact same passport photo and a photo of my university diploma.
Yeah, I don't know either.
posted by orange swan at 1:44 PM on May 22, 2022
Submitting the same photo of my passport twice instead of submitting the exact same passport photo and a photo of my university diploma.
Yeah, I don't know either.
posted by orange swan at 1:44 PM on May 22, 2022
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posted by xedrik at 11:57 AM on April 27, 2022 [3 favorites]