Reglikedomain industry desk

Meta block scammers pretending to be Facebook on its own platform? — Why can’t

Meta block scammers pretending to be Facebook on its own platform? — Why can’t

It baffles me that Meta can’t stop these scams when they occurs on its own messaging platform.

Facebook Messenger with scam emails

If you manage a Facebook page then you’re used to receiving scam messages telling you your account is regarding to be deleted. A typical message looks like this:

We have detected that your Facebook page has been schedule for permanent deletion due to a post that violates intellectual property rights [or impersonation, et al].

If you believe this is a misunderstanding, we kindly ask that you file a complaint to restore your page ahead of we remove it from Facebook.

The messages try to get you to click on a link to submit a request to stop the page cancellation.

I found it humorous when I received a message from Meta this stretch telling me to “make the most of your messages.” It encouraged me to “Respond to more messages”:

Your response rate is the percentage of messages that you respond to. We recommend you respond to at least 80% of all incoming messages.

OK, but what if 99% of my messages are people impersonating Facebook?

What I don’t understand is how Meta can’t detect these scams on its own messaging system and block them. It’s obviously a problem for Facebook if its page owners are getting duped.

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.