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Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

mashable.com

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Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#261

Post by maus42 »

ReidZB wrote: post #22
SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

> I realize that the proper solution is to terminate my account and never attempt to log back in.... but I've had my account since 2006 and despite the company's terrible practices, I'm really not interested in disconnecting for good at this time Well, that's the real problem, isn't it? If users aren't punishing Facebook by leaving the platform in droves, then what incentive does Facebook have to stop its consistentl…

HN crowd is a quite special case.

Elsewhere in the world, FB is assumed as to be the standard. My romantic life has been very disappointing, so some time ago I tried creating a Tinder account (it is the only dating [yes you read it right, dating, not hookup] app that has entered the popular consciousness in this country and thus has a significant amount of female users). Last time I checked, they still required a FB account.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#262

Post by tomduncalf »

saguro wrote: post #157
SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

That thing facebook does with demanding your phone number, that's my favorite dark pattern. Apple does the same thing with iOS upgrades. First you pose a seemingly innocent question, like 'would you like to give us your phone number so we can keep your account secure?' or 'would you like to upgrade to new iOS?'. Then you take away the NO option. You replace it with 'i'll decide later'. And by doing so, you make it no…

It is a nasty dark pattern but I think in the case of iOS upgrades you can somewhat justify it - it’s important that users upgrade to avoid security issues etc. Of course really, iOS upgrades should be so pain-free that no one would ever want to say no, but that’s a different story!

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#263

Post by perfectstorm »

danbruc wrote: post #124

The social media behemoth has seen a decline in traffic in recent weeks along with millions of users leaving its platform [...] Two years ago I said that Facebook will be dead by 2020 [1] and that line made me check the current situation, we are right on track and linear extrapolation still hits zero in mid 2020 [2]. As mentioned in the original thread, don't get fooled by the normalized numbers, the search traffic f…

Maybe in the U.S. I was in Asia few months ago and I came across people who were new to Facebook. Facebook still has a honeymoon period with those people who just discovered their 'new' platform. Given the massive population in Brazil and India that would be a sizable chunk of users.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#264

Post by hutattedonmyarm »

Giroflex wrote: post #209
saguro wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That thing facebook does with demanding your phone number, that's my favorite dark pattern. Apple does the same thing with iOS upgrades. First you pose a seemingly innocent question, like 'would you like to give us your phone number so we can keep your account secure?' or 'would you like to upgrade to new iOS?'. Then you take away the NO option. You replace it with 'i'll decide later'. And by doing so, you make it no…

When I first opened up the Netflix mobile app and it asked me if I wanted it to show me notifications I thought "hey, that's nice, most apps just start spamming me without asking". I clicked "No thanks" and went on my way. It turns out, though, that it asks that _every_ single time I open the app. It's really annoying and I'm about to allow them only to block them at the OS level.

Interestingly, that happened to me on my Android tablet, but not on the Netflix iOS app

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#265

Post by codemusings »

I think it's worth pointing out that all the screenshots I've seen so far are from iMessage. I too have 2FA activated but never got spam like this via text (I have an Android phone and no FB app installed, only Messenger). So I wonder whether it's specific to an iMessage plugin or something similar?

EDIT: Apparently this is US specific.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#266

Post by CaptainZapp »

SamLevin88 wrote: post #4

Finally, somewhere I can appropriately vent about this. About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' banner frequently displayed at the top of the page upon loading FB, so I input my number to make it disappear for good. (Also, they kept hiding the 'x' (close) icon in different spots, making the banner difficult to dismiss.) A few days later I got a text messag…

  About TWO years ago I was constantly annoyed by
  the 'secure your account: add your phone number here' 
  banner
That and an obnoxious, flashing add "It seems you live in Wherever, please klick here if you live in Wherever!" were the actual reason I "deleted" my account about 3 years ago.

With all that shit they pulled during only that period it just proves that it was the right decision to make.

I never looked back.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#267

Post by stordoff »

danbruc wrote: post #199
toomanybeersies wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people access Facebook through the app or directly to the website. Google search traffic is not a good indicator of Facebook users or popularity.

That is not really a convincing argument, even if nobody used searching to get to Facebook, the search traffic would still reflect the general interest in Facebook. But given the huge search traffic it is not convincing that nobody uses search to access Facebook to begin with. So one has to at least argue that the decline in search traffic is due to user migrating from browser to app or something along that line. Als…

Previously, the search traffic will have represented general interest plus people using it to get to the site. You'd expect a decrease as more and more people use the apps, or web browsers get better at autofilling the domain rather than it becoming a search, even if the level of general interest remains the same (anecdotally, circa 2011 most people I knew would use Facebook on a PC; now most use a mobile app).

There's probably a decline, especially given the myriad messaging apps that have come to prominence more recently, but not as sharp as the searches would suggest.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#268

Post by CaptainZapp »

jedrek wrote: post #90
fahadkhan wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I left Facebook. But mainly because I realised that it's a real poor way to keep in touch with anyone. Gives you the feeling that you are keeping in touch when in reality you are just sharing photos and quotes in a medium that's very noisy with adverts.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of events/organizations that organize almost exclusively through Facebook. Unfortunately, there effectively no other free platforms with a critical mass of sign ups big enough to be used in that way.

  Unfortunately, there are a lot of 
  events/organizations that organize almost exclusively
  through Facebook
And there are services that require a Facebook account in order to use them. But you know what?

If your business, event, whatever relies on the fact that I have a Facebook account then fuck you very much! I'm not interested.

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#269

Post by cm2187 »

tomduncalf wrote: post #262
saguro wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That thing facebook does with demanding your phone number, that's my favorite dark pattern. Apple does the same thing with iOS upgrades. First you pose a seemingly innocent question, like 'would you like to give us your phone number so we can keep your account secure?' or 'would you like to upgrade to new iOS?'. Then you take away the NO option. You replace it with 'i'll decide later'. And by doing so, you make it no…

It is a nasty dark pattern but I think in the case of iOS upgrades you can somewhat justify it - it’s important that users upgrade to avoid security issues etc. Of course really, iOS upgrades should be so pain-free that no one would ever want to say no, but that’s a different story!

iOS upgrades have long been synonymous to me to having to go through a dozen modal screens nagging me for apple services...

Re: Facebook spamming users via their 2FA phone numbers

#270

Post by Normal_gaussian »

gt_ wrote: post #259
solatic wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From the UX I've studied it seems that ethics is unrelated. Typically in consumer apps the goal is to increase MAU and engagement and UX is dictated by whatever moves the needle on those areas. It's hard to separate whether people are using the app more because of it's better design through UX design feedback loop iterations or if it is a dark pattern. No matter which metrics you choose, you run the risk of PM's or…

I like the example here. I want to outwardly acknowledge the obvious force that is preventing the baker from putting drugs in their recipe: government regulation and law enforcement. I am an American but I am well accustomed to learning that other countries are able to prevent certain consumer abuse before it replicates at massive scale by acting early and adjusting along the way. Does this happen in Europe?

We're just introducing the GDPR Europe wide which iterates on the member states existing privacy laws to provide definitive rights to any human in Europe, and obligations to any company dealing with their information.

Abusing the 2FA number is likely illegal in most member states now, and is definitely so at the end of May.

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