Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Facebook parent Meta has fired or punished more than 20 employees and contractors over the past year, accusing them of improperly resetting user accounts through internal systems, some of whom are suspected of accepting bribes, the Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.

After users 'Facebook accounts are locked, they often can't log in directly to Facebook in the traditional way, according to internal company documents and people familiar with the matter. As a result, some users turn to employees or contractors working at Meta through intermediaries to help them unlock or reset accounts using internal employee mechanisms. Internal documents show that Meta employees in some cases received thousands of dollars in bribes.

This internal mechanism, known at Facebook as "Oops," has existed since Facebook's inception and allows employees to help restore access to accounts.

Meta spokesman Andy Stone said: "People selling fraudulent services are always targeting online platforms like ours and adjusting their strategies based on detection methods commonly used across the industry. Meta "will continue to take appropriate action against such individuals," he added. "

A spokesman for Meta security contractor Allied Universal also said the company "takes seriously all reports of violations of our standards of conduct."

This illustrates how Meta's social platforms, with more than 3 billion users, offer little customer service. The company has said it is committed to strengthening customer service in the coming years.

When a user's account is locked, they often try to reset it automatically, or contact Meta employees by phone or email, but many users report that it's often in vain. Some of them were able to contact Meta employees or contractors to fill out requests through the Oops channel to restore account access.

Oops is supposed to be fairly limited to unlocking accounts of friends, family, business partners, and public figures, but usage has been climbing in recent years as Meta's workforce has grown. An internal document shows that Oops channels will support about 50270 tasks in 2020, up from 22000 three years ago.

If submitting an Oops report, the Meta employee handling it needs to list an email address associated with the reset Facebook or Instagram account.

Internal documents show that they must also answer a series of questions, such as indicating who the user is resetting his account. This request is then sent to Meta's Community Support Team.

Because so many people rely on social media to do business, or manage the content of their lives, illegal control of user accounts can be lucrative. Some Facebook and Instagram accounts can even sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

Since the vast majority of users do not have access to the Oops system, people familiar with the matter say, an industry of intermediaries has developed to help users regain control of their accounts for a fee. Some of these intermediaries claim they have access to Meta's internal employees to help reset accounts.

"When you close an Instagram account that someone has spent years building, you deprive them of all their revenue streams," Nick McCandless said. He charges customers for resetting accounts, sometimes through Meta's contractors.

"You've got to find someone inside who's really going to do it," he said. "

Brooke Millard is a model who lives in Orland and has about 650,000 followers on Instagram. In December 2021, she was unable to access her account, after which she paid McCandless about $7000 to restore it.

"I know he obviously didn't do it," she said. "There are obviously others behind him. "

Meta spokesman Stone said buying, selling or spending money to restore accounts violated the Social networks terms of service.

Meta is also investigating whether some former employees conspired with company employees to hijack user accounts. In July, a Meta lawyer sent a letter to Kendel Melbourne, a former security contractor who was fired in 2021, saying he helped "third parties fraudulently control Instagram accounts."

Meta asked Melbourne to provide a list of the user accounts he was trying to reset and the money he made by providing the account reset service.

Meta accused Melbourne of violating the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and banned him from Facebook and Instagram.

Melbourne, part of United Global, had login credentials to Facebook's intranet, including the ability to request reset of user accounts through the company's internal Oops system, according to internal documents and people familiar with the matter. In the interview, Melbourne called Oops a perk of the outsourced job.

"They don't have any rules and they don't give you any lessons," Melbourne said.

Melbourne denies fraud, saying he simply reset about 20 accounts on behalf of friends, family and people he trusts.

Another Meta contractor at United Global, Reva Mandelowitz, was fired in February after an internal investigation found she was suspected of resetting multiple user accounts and obtaining thousands of dollars worth of bitcoins through intermediaries.

Mandrowitz also denied wrongdoing in an interview, saying she simply reset about 20 accounts at the request of friends and family.

Recently, United Global began cracking down on employee use of Meta's internal systems. An internal message warned: "Do not use Meta OOPS platform. "

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