When Facebook gets hacked, it can be a real headache to recover your account But now users of the social media platform are having their accounts suspended even if they have done nothing wrong and have taken proper security measures such as two-factor authentication (2FA)

As reported by Cybernews, Vietnamese hackers have begun creating fake Oculus Meta accounts and linking them to their real Facebook profiles However, doing so registered as unauthorized access and probably resulted in the suspension of the victim's Facebook account because the email addresses did not match

In a post to X, Dan Astin-Gregory (whose own account was suspended) explains that more than 1,000 people have been affected by this campaign so far and that the issue has not yet been addressed by either Meta or its Facebook social networking service He explains that the problem has not yet been addressed by either Meta or its Facebook social networking service However, the campaign could expand further, and the hackers behind it could even hold suspended Facebook profiles hostage by refusing to unlink these fake Oculus Meta accounts

Here is what you need to know about this new campaign and why it is particularly difficult to defend against

The reason social media sites and security writers like myself recommend enabling two-factor authentication in the first place is to protect you from account takeover attempts: with 2FA enabled, hackers can log in to your account without your email or phone because they need access to your phone

Surprisingly in this case, however, 2FA does not protect Facebook users from unauthorized account linking Normally, before linking one account to another, one must verify that it is really you

MetaQuest 2 used to require a Facebook account, but this was discontinued in 2022 Instead, Facebook's parent company created an entirely new Meta account so that VR headset users would not have to sign up for the social media platform If the inability of 2FA to function is not bad enough, Astin-Gregory also notes that both Facebook and Meta's help centers have been slow to respond regarding users who have been suspended by Facebook due to fraudulent account links

While this issue has afflicted a small number of Facebook users, it still needs to be addressed because the hackers behind this campaign are exploiting Meta's platform to cause confusion or perhaps for their own benefit

As for protecting one's Facebook account, there doesn't seem to be much that can be done, as enabling 2FA will not keep your account secure Nevertheless, the best antivirus software can keep you safe from malware and other cyber threats that may result from linking a fake Oculus Meta account to Facebook For example, a hacker might try to send you a malicious document in a phishing email about unlinking your Facebook from one of these fake accounts

There have been plenty of Reddit posts about this issue, but let's hope Meta takes action soon now that the news is official