Hackers are constantly evolving new techniques to fool their victims. One of their latest tricks is to attach a Meta account to a hacked Facebook account. This is a particularly nasty trick as the user may think they’ve completely recovered their account and removed the hacker from Facebook. But deep in their Accounts Center, the hacker lays in wait.
What Is a Meta Account?
Before we get into how to try to remove a Meta account, it’s important to define Meta accounts. Most of us know that Meta is the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more. And since Meta set up its “Accounts Center,” a good number of these account types can live in there together.
A Meta account is usually meant to log into various VR devices such as a Meta Quest or Meta Horizon. You can log create and log into a Meta account using an email address, but you can also use a Facebook or Instagram account. And here’s the kicker — you can also log into a Facebook or Instagram account using a Meta account.
How Hackers Are Using Meta Accounts
Normally when you recover a hacked Facebook or Instagram account, you quickly remove the hackers email address and phone number, set up 2FA, and voilà, you’re nearly in the clear.
But we’ve seen a large uptick in cases where a client takes those steps, and still, sometimes days later, the hacker gets back in. At the root of these cases is often a Meta account. The hackers have set up a Meta account and connected it to their Facebook account. That means that even if the Facebook password was changed and they added 2FA, the hackers can simply log right back into the user’s Facebook with the connected Meta Account.
That’s why it’s utterly important to check for the accounts in the Accounts Center.
How to Check for a Meta Account
After taking the basic steps to secure your hacked Facebook or Instagram account, you’ll want to check for any Meta accounts set up by hackers. To do this, head to the Accounts Center.
Once there, scroll down to the “Accounts” tab. If you see a strange Meta account (even if it has your name on it), you must remove it. There should be three dots next to the account. Click on those, and click ‘remove.’ Once the Meta account is gone from the Accounts Center, the hacker will be disconnected from your account.
Sometimes Facebook won’t let you remove the Meta account, but there are multiple ways around this. Please schedule a call with an expert today at Hacked.com to solve this issue immediately.
