The Facebook Fiasco

The first racing weekend of 2025 started in a terrible way for me. My Facebook account, dating back to 2008, was hacked and subsequently disabled.

On Thursday, January 2nd, I opened my Facebook app on my phone while at work, just to take a quick glance. Instead of seeing my normal News Feed, I was met with a screen that basically said my account was suspended due to a linked Instagram account violating Meta’s community standards and that I would have 180 days to appeal the action.

The linked Instagram account… was not mine.

An immediate “oh shit” panic set in and I attempted to login, only to discover my Facebook login credentials were not working. 

Basically, the hacker gained access to my account then proceeded to change the associated email address, password and phone number. Then, they did whatever it was that flagged the account in violation of the community standards.

Going directly to my Facebook profile or my business page, visitors are met with the “This content isn’t available right now” page. Anyone that’s been on the Facebook platform for any length of time knows that either that page or profile doesn’t exist, or it’s been suspended, disabled or deactivated.

I spent more time than I care to admit while at work trying to rectify the situation. Facebook provides several tools that allow you the opportunity to identify yourself and resolve issues like this. Unfortunately, none of those tools worked for me. I would attempt to use one, which would send me down a path that would be blocked, only to try other avenue that would be blocked. The hackers did a marvelous job creating a scenario wherein all roads to recovery were rendered useless.

After work, I was up past 2 am trying to find an answer. Eventually, I began to find other examples of the same scenario I was experiencing, and long story short… this is a lost cause. NONE of the other examples I encountered ever found a resolution. Using Meta Verified, direct emails, contacting by phone, becoming an advertiser on Facebook, etc. all proved to be failed attempts. 

So, I made the difficult decision to accept the hand I’d been dealt and created a new Facebook account. 

Thankfully, my Instagram account, and all my other social media platform accounts, my personal website, and my photography website were all unaffected. This was all centered around Facebook, and while I lose upwards of 10,000 contacts through friends, followers, page likes, etc… I can rebuild. 

Over the past several days, I have begun the rebuilding process. Starting with the main account, I added a handful of friends. — A quick tangent here; Facebook presented me with the opportunity to add friends as part of the sign up process, so that’s what I did. Sure enough, after about five friends added, the platform told me that I was adding too many, too fast, and restricted my ability to send out friend requests. So, thanks to a few friends and a pinned post on my new profile, I was able to get the word out and instead of sending requests out, I’m accepting them instead. — I have had a flood of friend requests, and I’m adding them as they come, but only if I really know the person, or have a valid connection that warrants the addition. In time, very soon actually, I’ll have a new business page up and running, where I will point those that wish to follow me. 

I’ve also made posts on my other social media accounts mentioning this situation, and will continue to update those along the way, 

And of course, there is this post. The long-form, full explanation of this fiasco, which will live on my website… probably as it’s own page.

Moving forward, I ask that everyone remain patient with me as I go through this process. It’s hard to fathom how entrenched you can become in a platform, but alas, here we are. In the future, I’m going to make a much stronger effort at diversifying my online presence to better incorporate all the various platforms I participate in. Above all, my personal website, DanielVining.com, will continue to be my Internet hub; MY space on the World Wide Web, free of the rules and roadblocks of the big social media companies.

It should go without saying, but I will say it regardless. Check your passwords; make sure they are strong, current and fully secure with Passkeys, 2 Factor Authorization, biometrics, etc. Also make sure you backup your most important data. For most when talking about social media, this means photos. Don’t rely on Facebook as the be all/end all solution for storing your photos, videos, and anything else, really. Back those memories up away from these social websites, then make sure those backups are backed up.