You may have gotten a suspicious looking e-mail asking you to Turn on Facebook Protect or be locked out of your account and wonder if it’s a scam. It is, indeed, the real deal! Read on to learn more about this new feature and why you need to activate Facebook Protect before the deadline.

What is Facebook Protect?

In response to the widespread Facebook scams that I often write about here on the blog (like the podcast scam) Facebook is activating a new feature called Facebook Protect and Advanced Protection. The irony is that the e-mail they send out looks very suspicious!

Right now, they are only sending out these notification/warning e-mails to accounts that have the “potential to reach a lot of people.” My SewGeekMama Facebook page has 100k+ followers and is verified, so that’s why they sent one to me.

According to Meta, these types of accounts “can be targeted by bad actors on social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.”

While Meta is making the Facebook Protect service available to more and more accounts, it recommends authorizing two-factor identification for extra protection if you don’t have it yet.

Facebook Advanced Protection

The e-mail they send comes from security@facebookmail.com, which is one of the things that made me think it might be a scam. The first thing I did was Google it!

And even after reading about how it wasn’t a scam, I still didn’t trust the e-mail enough to click on the link. I’m sure it’s only a short time before scammers start spoofing this e-mail. To stay safe, go straight to your account and check your notifications. You’ll see the message there if it was really sent.

So, do NOT ignore this message if you get one. You will be locked out of your account if you don’t act by the deadline. The deadline is different for everyone, depending on when they send the message.

And you won’t lose the account or be permanently locked out, but if you’ve ever tried to retrieve an account then you know what a pain in the butt that can be. You are much better off activating it on time and avoiding the lock-out.

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

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