How much would you pay to urge your Facebook account back?
Facebook users turn to a unique and expensive account recovery method to retrieve hacked or stolen accounts. But, rather than expecting the Facebook security team to whirr into action and restore the hacked account, crafty Facebook users have found a loophole: buy a new Oculus Quest 2 VR headset from the corporate.
Despite a replacement Oculus Quest 2 costing $300, Facebook users found that the safety team was much more likely to concentrate on their issues once they were a paying customer, even at the steep price.
Does Buying an Oculus Rift Restore Your Facebook Account?
According to an NPR report, it can take weeks for a hacked Facebook account to return to the rightful owner; such is that the volume facing the Facebook security and accounts teams.
One canny user spotted a chance to dodge the road and followed a tip found on Reddit. The tip suggested purchasing a replacement Oculus Quest 2. As Facebook owns Oculus and you would like an active Facebook account to use the VR headset, surely Facebook would oblige and obtain your account back to your hands.
Surprisingly, it worked.
After contacting the Oculus support team, the account was restored. But here’s the twist: the user then returned the unopened and unused Oculus Quest 2 to Facebook, safe within the knowledge that their account was secure.
Is Facebook Support Really That Bad?
According to the people purchasing a $300 VR headset, yes, Facebook support is awful, and that is without stepping into Facebook’s privacy issues.
As with most major tech companies (nay, most major companies in any sector), Facebook makes it almost impossible to contact. So if you would like to speak to a true person, you’re straight out of luck.
Part of this is often to scale back overhead and shield workers from the overwhelming number of individuals that need help. In addition, keeping account management and security out of sight makes it easier to manage.
But from the opposite side of the fence, it makes attempting to retrieve a stolen or breached account incredibly frustrating, with little information to travel on and 0 interaction to guide you thru the method.
HOWEVER, the NPR report did note that this Facebook account recovery “hack” hadn’t worked for several people but is more of an indictment of the amount that frustrated users will attend to say their profile back.
After all, many profiles are deeply ingrained in their user’s lives, with memories, contacts, messages, photos, and far more.
All it does is remind us that unless you’re paying, you are the product, which is Facebook’s immensely successful business ethos.
