To be suspicious of Facebook's motivation for verifying my identity?

[HopLittleBunny]

Yes yes, FB is the devil's own toe jam etc, but I have friends and family all over the world so its convenient.

I logged in to my FB this morning perfectly fine, then got texts from friends over lunch saying my account was down. Again. FB won't let me log in until I can 'verify' who I am. To get acceptable verification, FB would need to receive a jpeg of official ID which would also tell them my address, NI number, NHS number or bank account details.

Apparently this is being done to better enable my friends to find me. AIBU to suggest this is a crock of shit and FB actually just want as many of my details as possible to sell on, and to think my inbox and letter box are both going to see a massive surge in spam in the very near future?

I would wonder if my account has been hacked.

Er, sounds like a scam. I can't imagine for a moment a stupid social networking site would want or need these details legitimately. You could be completely cleaned out by people knowing all that information. ID fraud and everything.

I've never had this. Sounds a bit weird. Do you have an unusual name and they think it's a fake one?

Scam. You need to contact FB to find out what's going on - this is not normal. Also, you should run a full virus check on your computer.

FB do this if they suspect your name is not real.

I think someone wants your details, but not FB.

not sure of a way round it but I'd use a different computer to log on to facebook, change passwords, and then double check the "logged in" area in settings that shows you all the things you are logged in on and cancel all of them.

I'd also delete any fb apps and reinstall them.

this is pretty obvious its a scam, ywbu to even ask if its genuine.

All power to the hacker if it has been. I can't even remember the password myself, or the password to the throw away email I set up to register with

It was a disposable email to begin with because I was net stalked for a decade and my last account was hacked, so I made a new one with a new name from an email address that had no links to my main one, which was also hacked. So I'm naturally suspicious anyway, especially since this is the second time I have been 'randomly selected' to verify my account this year, but mostly its the form of verification that FB are insisting on which have irked me. A social media site has no business requiring my drivers license or bank card to allow me to post minion memes or whatever.

FB do this if they suspect your name is not real. Do they? Mine is a made up name, linked an email account with the same made up name, very obviously not a real name. I set it up like that when I was teaching and didn't want students finding me.

FB have never queried the account! Maybe I should expect an email soonish?

I set up a FB page recently under a joke name, so long as it matches your email it doesn't recognise a discrepancy. The only other information I provided was my phone number.

My reason for this was to see a specific page for a Parent Council Organisation. I hate FB and have no contacts or friends on it, I just needed to log in.

I don't get all this "you need to provide your real name" nonsense, and they have absolutely no need whatsoever for any other details, certainly not home address, bank details and NI number. That's utterly ludicrous. You're being scammed OP, pure and simple.

It's legit, we had a work Facebook page that I had set up. We got th same lock out message and couldn't log back in as we wouldn't provide what they wanted! A quick google will throw up hundereds of testimonies off people experiencing the same. We ended up creating a new account.

I think it's very likely you've been hacked in some way, sounds incredibly fishy to me.

I don't use Facebook now, I deleted my account when they introduced the facial recognition. That was just a step too far in my opinion. They don't have any legitimate need to have your ID on file, and there are many legitimate reasons why you would make a false name. OurBlanche not wanting students to find them for example.

Sometimes asking for ID is legitimate, OP. Here:

www.facebook.com/help/182439941814828

This happened to me as I have an unusual name. I didn't send them anything apart from a shirty email assuring them it was my name and then they unlocked my account. I did this all through Facebook and not through any dodgy emails I was sent. This was a few months ago and has been fine since.

It is a wide spread and cunningly specific scam if it is. I know of a dozen people who were asked to verify their name earlier on the year when I was last asked. They all had made up names. I had also heard recently that FB are having a crack down on fake names using some shiny new algorithm. I went into the app on my phone and followed the link to an https page, which is what asked for my various details to 'prove' who I am.

If this works, these are screen caps of the pages I was directed to. It seems a lot of effort for a scam tbh

Are you using your real name in Facebook?

Of course I'm not using my real name on FB. I was net stalked for a decade. I am, however, using an actual, plausible name which matches the email address set up to register it with.

It was close enough to my real name that my friends, the people I want to find me, would recognise it was me from the add request, but different enough that my stalker wouldn't easily find me although I obviously now suspect he has

this is pretty obvious its a scam, ywbu to even ask if its genuine.

How obvious?

It's pretty obvious that it might not be a scam, given it's something Facebook talk about in their help sections, policies and procedures.

1. Use a completely different computer on a completely different network - so there's no risk of a problem caused by a virus on your computer

1. Make sure you are typing www.facebook.com into the browser, so you can be certain you're looking at Facebook.

1. Try to log in

1. Follow instructions.

Facebook say they delete all reference to your ID after you've provided it. Whether you believe them or not is up to you.

Reasons it might have happened: they believe you're not using your real name (are you Phuk Dat Bich?); you've had a load of people report you for some reason; there's some glitch in the system and they've locked you out by mistake.

It doesn't mean your account's been hacked, nor that it's a guaranteed scam. Whilst it's right to be cautious, it's also foolish to jump to conclusions.

This poor chap is regularly asked to prove his name. :o

Regardless though, my AIBU was about why FB would need official documentation and couldn't just allow me, or indeed anyone, to use whatever name they see fit. As long as they pass the obscenity filter, obviously. If my account were suspected of being used to stalk or harass someone else, FB having my address wouldn't make any difference since they couldn't release it without a court order. They could simply deactivate my account. All this verification process does is discriminate against those who cannot use their real name, for personal, professional or security reasons and yield a lot more personal information for FB to sell on.

If you'll excuse me, I'm just off to find the tin foil to fashion myself a little hat.

Facebook T&Cs spefically state you should use your real name. If you don't, they can lock or disable your account.

Registration and Account Security

Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way. Here are some commitments you make to us relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account:

• You will not provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission.
• You will not create more than one personal account.
• If we disable your account, you will not create another one without our permission.
• You will not use your personal timeline primarily for your own commercial gain, and will use a Facebook Page for such purposes.
• You will not use Facebook if you are under 13.
• You will not use Facebook if you are a convicted sex offender.
• You will keep your contact information accurate and up-to-date.
• You will not share your password (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.
• You will not transfer your account (including any Page or application you administer) to anyone without first getting our written permission.
• If you select a username or similar identifier for your account or Page, we reserve the right to remove or reclaim it if we believe it is appropriate (such as when a trademark owner complains about a username that does not closely relate to a user's actual name).

If you violate the letter or spirit of this Statement, or otherwise create risk or possible legal exposure for us, we can stop providing all or part of Facebook to you.

It's in their TS and Cs - they can require wahtver they want.

fWIW it has been shown that using real identities mean people are far less likely to troll/be abusive etx. google+ also requires you too use your real name.

I don't get all this "you need to provide your real name" nonsense, and they have absolutely no need whatsoever for any other details, certainly not home address, bank details and NI number. That's utterly ludicrous. You're being scammed OP, pure and simple.

Facebook makes money from advertising, and the more information they have about you, the easier it is for them to make money. If they can't verify you're a real person, then you are worth less to them because advertisers will trust their data less. One of the most powerful sales tools Facebook has is the knowledge that many or most of its users are genuine people - profiling is much easier.

They also specifically state that you should hide things like bank details, NI number etc.:

When submitting documentation, please cover up any personal information we don't need to verify your identity (ex: credit card number, Social Security number)