I have always known that God has a sense of humor. After all, why else would an English major and all-around arts guy become a Tax Auditor (for the second time)? Life is a mystery. The other one I have been pondering over the last few years is when I was going to throw in the towel on Facebook. From articles such as "Facing the Truth About Facebook" to "Is Technology Making Us Rude" and "The Connection Illusion," I have been lamenting what social media has done both to our minds (deep thought lost) and our culture (neighbors forgotten in favor of "connections"). I have repeatedly asked myself when I was going to pull the plug. Well, that answer may have just been made for me.A few days ago, I decided to spend just a few dollars on Facebook to promote my new photography portfolio. Strangely, Facebook sent me a warning about one of my related posts possibly containing copyrighted images. Well, duh, they are copyrighted, and I hold the copyrights. Early the following morning (I think on a Saturday), I received another message. It looked similar to the first, and it said I needed to click through the message to confirm some things about my promoted post. Of course, that's when all the trouble started. Being barely awake, I clicked. Here's how I have been describing it online the past few days.
When someone announces they’re being banned from Facebook, it’s hardly front-page news. Yawn…. I’ve decided that it might be a good idea to share my particular (brief) situation, however, mainly because I’ve noticed that precisely the same thing seems to be happening to many other users. (See Reddit in particular.)
I fell for a phishing scam a couple mornings ago. Fortunately, the scammer’s technology didn’t work quite right, and I asked my son for help. My son (just graduated with a BA in Mechanical Engineering) immediately realized it was a scam. I tried changing the passwords at once, and it seemed that things were going to be okay. A short time later, however, I received a message that identity verification was going to be required. I decided to hit FB's link upon returning from a planned hike on the Oregon Coast. On the drive back, however, I was notified from a FB friend that the account had been completely removed; I was banned.
The message I received the following day shed further light on it. FB apparently linked my account with the scammer’s Instagram—the person who briefly hijacked my Facebook. So, not only am I dealing with changing my debit card and bank passwords (checking account was breached from FB via saved debit card info), changing cell phone number, reorganizing how I use e-mail with my bills, but I’m also attempting to un-ban myself from FB. Rather…I am deciding if I want to remain with Facebook by choice; I am presently feeling a tad ambivalent about it. I have even written articles in the past about leaving Facebook, but being sloppily linked with a crook by some algorithm is not my idea of an ideal departure from social media—particularly if I decide to run for state office again. If I leave, I would prefer to leave on my own terms; thank you very much.
Tried filing a BBB complaint yesterday, but I'm not holding my breath. Been doing releases of a sort to a couple consumer protection related media outlets in case they might be interested. Hoping for a call back perhaps from one particular nationally syndicated radio show. I’ve also tried jumping through FB's little hoops (such as appeal@fb.com and abuse@fb.com), but there's not even a rudimentary acknowledgment of e-mails. (As a guy who used to be a real hearings representative, it's a little amusing.) Today, I attempted to write Nicholas Clegg, but not sure any of the e-mail permutations were successful in reaching their desired target.
Bottom line…this is less about me, and more about the fact that this seems to be an increasingly regular way that FB conducts itself. No one should be guilty until proven innocent—even in the deceptively antiseptic blue and white halls of Meta.
For a little insight into the location of these Nigerian scammers, here is their physical trail. Apparently this kind of tracking is a bridge too far for Facebook's tech folks; it's bewildering. I mean...what do they do?
