Fake "your Facebook account will be disabled" message steals your login and hands scammers your account
A fake alert says your Facebook account will be closed for policy violations. Clicking "Appeal" leads to a fake login page that steals your password and 2FA code; scammers seize the account to run Marketplace fraud or spread phishing.
Also known as: fake Facebook account suspended Canada, Meta account disabled phishing Canada, Facebook policy violation scam Canada, fake Facebook appeal link scam, Facebook credential theft Canada, Instagram account suspended phishing Canada
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
- 1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
- 2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
- 3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.
What to do right now
- 1 Never click 'Appeal' or 'Verify' links in unsolicited messages — open the Facebook app or go directly to facebook.com and check for any real notices in your account settings
- 2 If you entered your password on a suspicious page, change your Facebook password immediately from a clean device and enable Login Alerts in Settings → Security
- 3 Check Settings → Security and Login → Where You're Logged In and log out any unrecognised sessions
- 4 If your account has already been taken over, use Facebook's compromised-account recovery page at facebook.com/hacked
- 5 Warn your Facebook contacts that you may have been phished — scammers use hijacked accounts to spread the same message to friends
- 6 Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at https://antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca or call 1-888-495-8501.
Red flags
- ⚠ An unsolicited message says your account will be suspended or disabled for policy violations — real Facebook and Meta security notices appear as banners inside your actual account, never as external messages with login links
- ⚠ The message includes a button labelled 'Appeal,' 'Verify Account,' or 'Secure Your Account' that links to an external site rather than opening inside the Facebook app
- ⚠ The link goes to a URL that is not facebook.com or meta.com — scammers use Blogspot subdomains, Vercel apps, or look-alike domains to dodge URL filters
- ⚠ After entering your password the site asks for your two-factor authentication code — scammers use it in real time to bypass 2FA and lock you out immediately
- ⚠ The message arrives through Messenger, email, or another platform rather than through an in-app Facebook notification
- ⚠ The sender name contains a subtle misspelling — for example 'Meta Verrified' (double r) — to evade trademark filters while looking authoritative