A “warning” that claims Facebook hackers are posting dirty, insulting, pornographic or sexual videos or posts in your name and that “you don’t see them” is floating across social media.
The warning isn’t new – it’s been spreading across Facebook in one form or another for a number of years now, and we previously discussed it back in January 2012, but its persistence warrants a more detailed deconstruct concerning just how useless a warning this actually is, and why.
First, a few examples.
collected March 2012
facebook attention.
Hey hackers have already entered facebook and they are putting dirty videos in ur name in the walls or profile of your friends without you knowing it .. you don’t see it but others can see it.. As if these were a publication that you made!! So if you receive something from me, its not mine… (Copy this on your wall) it is the security of your own image. Do spread it.. Plz pass it on.
collected August 2015
Unfortunately, someone is publishing pornographic videos invisible in profiles, without you knowing!!!! The owner of the wall doesn’t see them, but others do, like it was a genuine publication that you did! They even write comments as if it were you!!!! Please, if you see something on my wall, let me know immediately!! Thank you!! because I would never ever post anything like that .
Copy and paste it on your wall. Do not share
collected August 2016
The warnings make a handful of claims –
1. Pornographic, insulting or offensive videos/posts are being published from a users account
2. The user can’t see the posts since they are invisible to them
3. Computer hackers are responsible
The reason why this warning never seems to go away is that it loosely bases itself on genuine threats facing Facebook users, but the language is so poorly written and riddled with factual errors, the warning is essentially rendered wholly pointless. The author of the warning makes no attempt to explain what is actually going on, or how to avoid falling victim to this kind of threat in the future.
So, what type of threat is the warning trying to convey?
There are indeed instances where a Facebook account that has been compromised can start auto-posting spammy links across Facebook. You can see one of those spammy links below (which was made via a rogue Facebook app.)
However, the warnings above are simply not accurate enough to be of any use. Here’s why –
* These warning fails to address why Facebook accounts post these spam links in the first place, which is arguably the most important thing to understand. For a Facebook account to start posting spam links like this, the account owner would have fallen for a scam. For example, they installed a rogue Facebook app (like in the screenshot above) or they installed some malware or rogue browser extension. We have a detailed blog post on why your Facebook account posts spam by itself which you can read here.
* These warnings often vaguely attribute the spam posts to “hackers” which isn’t really accurate, since this leads the reader to believe that malicious cyber-criminals have “hacked” their Facebook account, when in reality it is the account owner that has compromised their own account by installing (or doing) something they shouldn’t have.
* The warnings assert that the account owner can’t see the posts they make on their wall. The Facebook wall is now called the timeline, and account owners can see everything posted on their timeline, without exception. In fact the account owner can see everything they post no matter where it is on Facebook (for example on someone else’s timeline, or the comments section of a Facebook page) so the claim the posts are invisible are false. You can track all your posts and comments via your Activity Log if you are not sure where to look.
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Warnings are only useful if they contain useful advice. Poorly written, factually incorrect and hopelessly out-dated warnings are of no help to anyone. If you want to help your Facebook friends out, make sure they are educated and aware of the different scams out there facing Facebook users so they won’t compromise their account in the first place, meaning they won’t start posting dirty, insulting or sexual videos in the first place.
We have an array of articles, some of which are linked to below, that help users keep safe online. Feel free to share them with your friends.
Is your account sending out spam messages? How it happens, how to stop it and how to avoid it in the future.
How to lock down your Facebook account. Make sure your privacy settings are correct to limit the chances of someone compromising your account.
