Facebook is an interesting and contradictory platform. On the one hand, you use it to share things about yourself with the world, but then again, private settings and private chats often hide some of the best-kept secrets of the digital world.
We all have that one chat that, if it were to leak, it would cause a massive problem.
While this is far from smart, trade secrets (and even secrets of national security) are often discussed in private chats.
There are also a lot of people with whom this is the only way you stay in touch.
All in all, it would be a disaster if someone else got access to your Facebook account. Here are the top five signs that this might already be happening.
- Suspicious recent activity
The most common reason for you to suspect that someone else has access to your Facebook account is suspicious activity. You have someone accepting a friend request you don’t remember sending, seeing a message you know you never sent, and even a search history that you don’t remember looking at.
Sure, it’s normal if you don’t know if someone asks you who was the last person you looked up without looking at your phone. However, upon looking at your phone, the entirety of your search history should be familiar.
Just keep one thing in mind – this particular situation may be extra difficult to spot for several reasons. It is possible for someone to install a spy app on another person’s phone, which would result in them tracking their phone without them knowing.
In this particular scenario, there will be no unfamiliar activities. After all, they’re not using your Facebook; they’re just looking at your chat messages while you’re looking at them and seeing your overall social media activity.
The only way to spot and prevent this is to actually learn about these spy apps and check the processes on your phone. Checking processes is the only way since these apps usually have no icons.
- Messages you don’t remember seeing or sending
If the message is seen and you know you didn’t see it, chances are that someone else did. It could be a jealous partner, a friend who “accidentally” touched your phone while you were in the bathroom, or it could be a hacker.
This method is also flawed. After all, you could accidentally see someone’s message. You can just click on the message and exit the app immediately. This would flag it as seen without you actually seeing it.
Another scenario where this could happen is one where you are logged into an account on your desktop, and you’re active in chat; however, you have to leave. You could have to go to the bathroom or to the front door because the delivery has just arrived. Then, if someone sends a message (and you’re in the chat), the message will automatically be flagged as seen. If you immediately close, it will cause a confusing scenario.
Now, we’re not trying to gaslight you. These instances are quite rare; however, a message that someone else saw is relatively easy to spot. An accident happens, but with these scenarios, it’s somehow clear that it was an accident. When it comes to the messages you know you didn’t send, this is far more definitive.
- Unexpected friend requests
Previously, we’ve already mentioned an example of this, but it wouldn’t hurt to expand on this topic a bit. You see, you don’t control who sends you friend requests. Sure, you can set up an account so that you cannot be added by the general public. There are two settings:
- Everyone
- Friends of Friends
Now, if you accept only friends of friends and you get a request from someone with whom you have no mutual friends, someone might have just entered your account and changed this setting. At the same time, they might be hiding mutual friends; however, they should always be visible to you and the other party.
It’s far more concerning when you get a notification that someone has accepted your friend request, and you know that you’ve never sent it. This is alarming and incredibly problematic for a wide variety of reasons.
First of all, you didn’t send those friend requests, but someone did.
Second, there are so many guides warning you about accepting people you don’t know as Facebook friends. Just think about all the information you put on your profile. Here, someone can see where you like going, where your kids go to school, and more.
- Getting notifications about a strange activity
First of all, you’ll get a notification if someone accesses your account from an unknown device. This is always alarming, and it’s indicative of the fact that you have a problem. Fortunately, this method often gives you enough time to act.
Second, you’ll even be notified if they just tried to access your account. Now, this could mean that they just know your email address and have tried something intuitive (like your date of birth, anniversary, or a pet’s name). They could also be trying something random (like a common password pattern – 12345).
Then again, this could be more concerning. They could actually know your password, but since they’re accessing from an unknown device and location, the platform is asking them for an extra step of authentication.
In this scenario, you have a serious problem. They have your email address and your password. Now, there’s no time for a full-blown panic (2FA is a reliable method), but you might want to change a few passwords, just in case.
- Inability to use your password
This is the ultimate stage, a scenario in which someone just takes over your account and locks you out of it. The thing is that this is a clear sign; you don’t need any analysis.
You try to log into your Facebook account, and even though you 100% know the password, it’s just impossible.
Then, you ask your friend to check it out. There are posts that you didn’t post, and someone might even respond when they write them a note.
Sure, you can send a message to Facebook, and while it’s possible that they’ll intervene and return the account (or at least terminate it), this is not a guarantee. Also, canceling it can be such a waste. Just think about years of posts, photos in private conversations (that don’t exist anywhere else), etc.
This is a huge problem, and you need to act right away. Ideally, you could recover it via your email or SMS code (this is why having a 2FA is such an amazing idea). If this doesn’t work, you need to report it immediately.
The person who took over your account is guaranteed to have bad intentions. They could ruin your reputation, leak personal information, or use your own credibility to send malicious links to your friends. They could even deactivate your Facebook account rather than allow it to go back to you.
If you notice early on, it doesn’t have to be a problem
There are a lot of ways in which you can avert disaster if you act quickly enough. Still, you need to have something to base your suspicions on. The above-listed five symptoms are more than indicative of the problem. Just be careful, ensure that you have 2FA enabled, and watch out for any changes or suspicious activities.