Facebook Security Alert: Fake Facebook Email Asking Users for Phone Number

Facebook security alert: Fake Facebook email asking users to submit their phone number to “Improve User Experience.” The Unofficial Guide to Facebook Privacy and Security posted the alert this morning:

A number of people have reported receiving emails from the ‘Facebook User Operations Team’. There are several reasons why most people will spot this as fake, (which Facebook has verbally confirmed) but here is an example kindly sent in to us:

The same email has been sent from different fb.com accounts… Never assume that the owner of an email address is the one responsible for sending fraudulent emails. Millions of email accounts are compromised and then sometimes used to send unsolicited emails.

Anyone who gives their phone number may be charged for unsolicited texts and phone calls. The best course of action if a phone number has been given, is to contact the local fraud office for advice.

How to Protect Yourself from Fraudulent Emails

Keep in mind that these emails can look very “official” and often contain :

• Notifications about friend requests, messages, events, photos, and videos
• False accusations that you are abusing the site
• Warnings that something will happen to your account if you don’t update it or take another immediate action
• Requests to update or provide personal information

Facebook recommends:

Don’t click on links or open attachments in suspicious emails. If the email looks weird, don’t trust it, and delete it from your inbox immediately.

What makes an email suspicious? Use the following guidelines to identify a suspicious email:

• Be suspicious of any email or message that contains an urgent request or asks you to update your information or provide new information.
• Be suspicious of emails or messages that contain misspellings or use bad grammar.
• Be suspicious of emails representing Facebook with a fb.com email address. General practice for Facebook is to use facebookmail.com as the email address.
• Be suspicious of any email that requests telephone contact. Facebook only communicates through email.
• Be suspicious of any email that contains a password as an attachment. Facebook never sends passwords in that manner.

You can submit a report about an email to Facebook through this link – Fake Email Notification Form.