This week started off fun at Snovalley Pride’s A Fierce Halloween Drag Show with a couple of cats, a rodeo clown and Jareth the Goblin King.
About an hour into the show, I got this all-too-familiar message from Instagram:
“We got a request to change your password. You can create a new password to finish making changes in Meta Account settings. If you ignore this message, your password will not be changed, and your changes to settings will not be saved. If you didn’t request a new password, let us know.”
So I ignored it.
Did I read the part about ignoring the message and go back to the party without fully absorbing the part about letting them know?
Probably.
Did I believe my password wouldn’t be changed because Instagram said it wouldn’t?
Yes.
SHOULD I have paid attention to the second part?
Absolutely.
Was it a mistake?
BIG MISTAKE.
For the rest of the night, I set down my phone and had some fun with some actual humans in an actual place. Silly me.
Unbeknownst to me, the attempts to change my password continued through the party until at 202 am someone successfully logged into my personal account. This account was linked not only to my personal Instagram but to Living Snoqualmie’s Instagram, my personal Facebook profile and Living Snoqualmie’s Facebook and Threads.
At 204 am I got an email from Meta asking me to “Confirm you’re human to use your account.”
Ironic.
From there it got fast and furious
206 am: Thank you for taking the time to respond to our decision to suspend your account. After reviewing, we were able to determine that your account should be reactivated. Log in to your Meta account to continue your activity.
213 am: This is to let you know that **** **** (AI, devices and more) was removed from the same Accounts Center as ******* ***** (Facebook), olivermqbthompson, I have no idea who this is (Instagram), ********** (Instagram), ******** (Instagram), livingsnoqualmie (Instagram) and livingsnoqualmie (Threads), and now has its own Accounts Center.
At 216 am Facebook sent me this message 8 times.
We detected signs that someone may have accessed your account, so we took some actions to help protect you. Actions we’ve taken include things like logging you out of places that don’t appear usual for you. This means you’ll need to log back into Facebook. Learn more about actions we may take. For more info on how to maintain your account security, go to Keeping your account secure.
Between 216 and 239 am several more messages were sent, and then this one: Your Facebook account has been suspended. This is because your account, or activity on it, doesn’t follow our Terms of Service on who can use Facebook. If you think we suspended your account by mistake, you have 30 days to appeal our decision. If you miss this deadline, your account will be permanently disabled.
Then, at 242 am: Your Facebook account has been permanently disabled. You requested a review of this decision, but we still found that your account, or activity on it, didn’t follow our Terms of Service. You can’t request another review. Learn more about why we disable accounts by visiting the Terms of Service.
14 years of my personal Facebook, all of my personal Instagram and all of Living Snoqualmie‘s Instagram and Threads…
GONE.
While I was dreaming of Drag Queens, Goblins and Black cats.
The next day was spent somewhat hysterical, changing passwords and trying to undo what was done while I slept.
At first I had hope. Several years ago, after seeing other businesses lose control of their Facebook pages, I had put precautions in place. I added admins, paid for Meta verification, put extra people on my business portfolio. Surely that was enough?
Silly, silly Melissa.
I mean, I’d been able to access a human being relatively quickly when trying to help the other businesses. Right?
Stupid, stupid Melissa.
See, unlike customer service of lore (Nordstrom, anyone?), human beings just don’t exist anymore.
When did that happen? It feels like the pandemic started it, and ChatGPT dealt us the death blow.
Tuesday was a giant rabbit hole of Meta’s non-human doom.
Part two coming soon…
Comments
Argh. I hear this happening from time to time. I get all those annoying messages and try changing passwords, but they continue. Fortunately, haven’t had anyone have success. Sorry you are going through that.