FB Problems today?

@Enzyte Bob

Working fine here Bob, has done all day, did you try and reboot your router? Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

@Enzyte BobWorking fine here Bob, has done all day, did you try and reboot your router? Good luck.Cheers, Steve. - @bigpearl

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My problem started when I was attempting  using FB messenger.  A popup basically said they wanted to see if it was really me. They wanted a photo id uploaded. I tried my drivers license, then my 13A, it rejected both saying there was not enough pixels. After several attempts my account was suspended for 180 days. It said I had one more attempt to upload the photo ID.

My nephew came over as we were going out to inspect a condo. He works nights at a call center doing "IT" on incoming calls. He took a picture of my passport and uploaded it and my account was reinstated.

FB messenger is my lifeline using my laptop. Using a cell phone I'm all thumbs trying to message. So I love the keyboard on the laptop.

Oh my.  I've never had to upload any of that.  Sounds really scammy to me...

He took a picture of my passport and uploaded it and my account was reinstated.

Please be very careful when sharing this kind of personal information.

You may also want to check X to see if there have been any issues with Facebook today. The fact that they are asking you to send a picture for identification does not sound quite right to me.

Cheryl said . . . He took a picture of my passport and uploaded it and my account was reinstated.Please be very careful when sharing this kind of personal information.You may also want to check X to see if there have been any issues with Facebook today. The fact that they are asking you to send a picture for identification does not sound quite right to me.

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My FB account was suspended, I was not able to check in.

Within minutes of uploading my passport, I was able to gain access of my FB account.

But I heed your warning.

While I'm at it, using Windows 11 and Firefox web browser, I can't exit Expat.com. I have no problems using Google Chrome.

As the Kingston Trio's Story of Charlie

Did he return?

No, he never returned

And his fate is still unlearned

He may ride forever

Beneath the streets of Boston

He's the man who never returned

I may be on this forum forever if I can't exit.

@Enzyte Bob

Never had a problem as mentioned with FB but old school here and run everything with Safari. Often log out of open windows and reboot the laptop or shut down and start again the next day, sometimes Chrome rears its ugly head and I ignore any prompts.

Any one asks me for photo ID it needs to be a legit process, FB has never asked me for that, sometimes the proverbial "I'm not a robot question" but never photo ID. Not sure what you are experiencing but does sound a little sus.

BTW good luck with your condo/property search Bob.

Cheers, Steve.

@Enzyte Bob

So they got three sources of ID from you??????? This sounds incredibly suspicious. How does FB know who you are when you never upload ID to open an account in the first place? I’d hate to think you were hacked and they got your documents

Brojeslov said . . . .  So they got three sources of ID from you??????? This sounds incredibly suspicious. How does FB know who you are when you never upload ID to open an account in the first place? I’d hate to think you were hacked and they got your documents

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The request after the first source was rejected was not enough pixels to make an positive ID. Ultimately a facial had to be uploaded. First a front view, then looking left, then looking right, then looking up.

Researching why?

According to Meta (Facebook and Instagram) when an attempted hack of your account and you get locked out, they usually requests positive ID verification to unlock your account.

The verbiage is too much for me to type.

So for inquiring minds do a search of: Does Meta require ID when you are locked out of FB or Instagram?

Positively, the answer is yes and they list what they will accept, so do the search which I suggested above.

So they don’t require ID to set up an account but they do require ID if there’s a problem after-the-event to confirm your ID. What do they compare your ID to if they’ve never seen it before? Hey you’re the expert and I’m certainly not but like millions of people my Facebook isn’t in my legal name so what on earth are they going to use my ID for?

Brojeslov said . . . So they don’t require ID to set up an account but they do require ID if there’s a problem after-the-event to confirm your ID. What do they compare your ID to if they’ve never seen it before? Hey you’re the expert and I’m certainly not but like millions of people my Facebook isn’t in my legal name so what on earth are they going to use my ID for?

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I'm not an expert, I'm just posting an experience I had. In my previous post I suggested if anyone wanted to know Meta's policy regarding FB and Instagram *locked out, do a Google search like I did. It was explained much better than I can do.

FB is probably more important to me in the aspect that this is how I communicate (messenger). Being locked out is devastating to me. When I want to communicate with my housekeeper, I use Google translate, English to Tagalog and retype it in messenger.

When my stepson is at work I message him to use the ATM for me and to pick up my prescription for me.

Now that I'm condo hunting, I forward listings to my nephew, he is my Tagalog mouthpiece and appointment setter.

So messenger is my lifeline, rather than my smart phone.

@Enzyte Bob

So messenger is my lifeline, rather than my smart phone.

Bob FB messenger is not the only show in town. A far superior form of communication is WhatsApp which is readily available in the Philippines. It also lends itself to desktop keyboard use as it can be downloaded to your computer. Mine sits on my Apple desktop ‘Dock’. Frankly I’m surprised that your ‘IT’ nephew has not suggested it.

One snag (but not insurmountable) is that only about 30% of Filipinos use WA. Why? Because they are so obsessed with becoming FB ‘stars’ and ‘digital creators’. As usual the country is an outlier in Asia in not using WA. Neighbouring countries like Indonesia have 90% usage. Everywhere takes a credit or Debit card. Sorry I digress a little ( no offence CA if I sounded a bit like ‘Mad Matt’ - I know he upsets you with the truth)

I would ask all your key (pun intended) contacts Bob to download WA (its free, Filipinos love a freebie) if only as a back up.

@Lotus Eater

One reason why so many people in the Philippines use FB Messenger is because access is free on many phone plans - so they don’t need ‘load’ to use FB Messenger but they do to use WhatsApp

@Brojeslov

An astute observation, one I was not aware of. Still it's worth having as a back up if only when their FB account gets 'hacked'. WhatsApp is a more secure medium than FB and the cost of a text is minimal.

The reason why 90% of Indonesians us WhatsApp is because they have a more competitive mobile phone market which makes it easier for new mobile phone players to muscle in on the market. The Philippines effectively has a duopoly tightly controlled by the government (i.e family interests). Big surprise.

Another reason why WhatsApp may be a better alternative to Facebook is that a lot of Filipina's are by nature Jealous and if you have a Facebook account and communicate with your partner through messenger there could be issues from ex partners stalking your account. This has happened to me a couple of times and one ex that I ended the relationship with years ago recently contacted me and actually told me she had been stalking me even though I do have a new account and use a nickname instead of my full name.

Even friends or relatives of your ex may try to sabotage your new relationship if you are not careful. Even locking the account so only friend can see it does not seem to work. They must have found some way around that because this ex even posted a picture of me with my new girlfriend.

@Lotus Eater

Sending a WhatsApp message is free, its just costs you what every your Data costs.

@SimCityAT

The important distinction that Brojeslav made was that because Filipinos use 'Load' (to use the Lingua Franca, we call it prepayment in the west) they do not get charged with FB Messenger but will be charged using WA; ie their 'load' will be used.