Facebook has been boasting not only the most users for a social networking site, but also the most “quality” users (ie less fake users).
How can Facebook achieve that?
First they’ve been actively purging fake accounts.
More recently they started testing your knowledge of your own friends.
Because everybody knows you know well all your friends on Facebook right?
This feature is disguised as a way to check that your account is not being accessed by an unauthorized person logging from a unrecognized computer.
It happens if you try accessing your account while traveling, and logging from a location you never logged from before.
Not only you will be asked for a Captcha, but Facebook will present you a set of 7 photos where your friends have been tagged, and you will have to recognize them.
You can only skip 2 questions so you better know your friends well, and be lucky enough to be shown photos with an actual face on it.
Especially when they start asking you questions on tagged pictures like those ones:
Try it yourself by logging from a friend’s computer or from a computer abroad and test your knowledge of your friends.
It’s fun, especially when you get yourself locked out of your own account and have to wait one hour to try it again.
Detailed flow
First you’re being asked to enter a Captcha:
Then you are tested on your knowledge of your friends’ pictures:
It reads:
In order to proceed, Facebook needs to verify that you are the owner of this account. To do this, please identify the people tagged in the following series of photos.
To pass, you cannot get any answers wrong. If you aren’t sure about a question, please skip it. You can only skip two questions.
If you fail, you get this:
Please come back in a little while
Your answers were not accurate enough.
For security reasons, you are only allowed to authenticate your identity once every hour. Please come back then to try again. Sorry for the inconvenience.
If you succeed after having failed previously, you will be shown the recent login attempts to review.
Please review recent activity on your Facebook account
Your account was recently accessed from a location we’re not familiar with. Please review the activity details below.
If anything looks unfamiliar, we’ll help you change your password (this will help prevent people in the future from accessing you account without permission).
Do you recognize the account activity listed above?
Note the funny wording about preventing people from the future to access your account. Ambiguous. What if I want my future self to access it?
Is it too much?
Although these extensive security measures really do their job of keeping unauthorized persons to access your Facebook account, aren’t they a bit too much?
Wouldn’t a more classical method combining a Captcha and an email with a link to confirm you identity be enough?
Here you have a Captcha, plus a series of 7 pictures with friends tagged.
You cannot make any mistake, you can only skip two questions.
It is overkill for user identification.
Hence the underlying reason behind this flow is more for fake user account determent than really protecting your account from unauthorized logins.
Maybe at some point the only way you will be able to add a friend on Facebook will be to go through 7 random pictures with and without your candidate friend on it and you would have to tell if he is in the picture or not.
This will certainly upset spammers using fake accounts using friends they know nothing about.
But it will also upset those real people having lots of friends because they are just over eager to add more.
We all have one of those friends, don’t we?
You know, those with more than 1,000 friends you always wondered how they know so many people (and they probably don’t).
I’m curious to know how well they would do at the photo tag test.
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UPDATE Sept. 09 2010:
It seems we were right as Facebook filed to patent social Captcha. See the patent application.
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I think this is funny. What’s the point? Sometimes we access FB from PC at home to PC at office, laptop, cellular, or simply at internet cafe. And the photo test is even more funny. How could I possibly know my 600 friends have been tagged?
And I have to answer seven questions without miss any? With limited time (yes, there is a limit, otherwise you’ll receive some “you answered too long” message)? If I failed, I have to wait an hour just to try it again? And if I continue to fail, I can’t reach my FB dashboard forever? Perfect.
What’s your solution?
this is really a very stupid action against fake user, we have so many friends and and it is impossible to identify all of them, and in addition,they are in updating
This new photo tag identification feature is totally stupid. It just makes me want to switch to other facebook-like services ASAP. I use the FB account for business, and I don’t personally know many people who are on my account. I failed 2 attemps to identify photos of these business associates and I am about to quit Facebook for good. There is no way to get help from the “help” page of FB.
I should say I am living in iran and under governerment restriction, So we are using many websites such as facebook.com via proxy or anti-filter applications so IP and location may change every time.
my question is: How can I never face this confirmation steps
I Play Mafia Wars I have 1537 friends .. I know about 60 even those 60 I have no ideas what they have in albums ??? I not interested .. the other 1000 .. well . so my Mafia Wars is over and so is FB they don’t even answer email queries my hope is someone will make a better platform …. Who ever thought this up is a moron .. who has seen every photo of their real friends ??? and who can remember them …..
Also Amy Sung is right … the “help” page is useless ….
Realmente una estupidez, Fc murio para mi debido a esa corroboracion de seguridad, como si fueran tan tracendentes. jajaja!!! Gracias facebook por cuidarme a pesar de mi edad…
This is really really dumb. I came here because I just could not login to my account!! I’ve been shown series of photos I just can’t recognize. A lot of photo tags are not correct anyway so I don’t know how this makes sense. Anyway, I don’t have to use Facebook. Crap.
@all
The best way to avoid this problem is to travel with your own computer, if you have one.
But be sure to get ready before traveling: log on with your laptop to Facebook while you still have another computer handy like your desktop.
Facebook will then remember you already successfully logged in from this laptop and not bug you anymore, even if you log from a foreign country.
If you borrow a friend’s laptop to travel, do login to Facebook before going abroad.
I came here to see if maybe there was a work around on this.
And it seems that everyone is having this issue.
I got lucky last week when I logged back in from my main location and got my 7 right,
now that I go back to my friends house use his pc and again I got to confirm whom I am.
The crazy thing about is that you can’t get any help on this matter at all from FB, just as someone
mentioned on this page, how about a true help page that comes from fb and send a link to your page
to login that is a reset page from fb…..
I guess I can see why people whom sed fb have discontinued fb, just as I made alot of friends to stay
in contact, now I am unable to do so.
To the people that post here if we flood fb on this matter maybe just maybe someone at facebook will wake up and fix this bug and truly give a way to login from no matter waht pc you use, I mean I know what my user name is and pswd and thats not enough to login into fb just because I am using a friends pc or from work…..
Hello FACEBOOK lets FIXS This issue for once already…
Facebook is over for me for doing this stupid useless security, lets proceed to twitter and friendster. FACEBOOK WAS MAD.
i have this problem,
i have a lot of friends how do i get past this security check??
i cant find anything on the facebook site…
pff
the most fucking retarded idea i have ever seen in my life, you bitches instead of stopping fakers you stopped users like me! oh god i really dont know how some of those programers think! this fuck face thinks he came out with new great idea..BITCH FIX IT SOON
actually i just wanna say “fuck you facebook!”
None of this works here.
I tried login from my new blackberry phone and the facebook login said it did not recognize where I was accessing from. Then when I tried to login to facebook from computer, it took me through some security questions to identify pics tagged by friends, but I cannot as I have over 2,500 friends whom joined for Mafia Wars game. Some of the pics are, like a basket of flowers. That’s just stupid, and I cannot answer the 7 questions correctly. I have searched high and low and even clicked on Change my password, which sent a new password to my e-mail, but now I can’t even access facebook from blackberry because it says invalid login/password. I am frustrated beyond belief, and cannot possibly start over building a new account. I sent an e-mail to what appears to be some kind of support desk, but reply back to my e-mail stated they cannot look at all questions and would try and solve user problems that are common. Basically, an automated non-response e-mail.
Please help me get the security questions prompts removed from my login so I can access my account. Please help!!!
Facebook does everything in their power to encourage and reward users for adding more friends in games within the site, but puts this impossible step in place, with absolutely no way around the problem. I guess this is the end for my Facebook.com experience. Unless they can remove this ridiculous bullcrap.
This is just forcing people to create a new account every time they use a different computer. It is generating a ton of fake accounts.
I cannot access my facebook account since I tryed to access it during a trip. I have tried it several times but each time it fails the Captcha stage of the security check. The problem is the words I am supposed to type are not displayed! So I don’t know what to type. I don’t know if its because I’m using a proxy to connect facebook or not. Any guide would be appreciated.
..Ahhh this is annoying. I mean come on!! If you’re a person like me with a ton of friends, how are you supposed to remember them all? Especially if you have friends in the thousands. This is really annoying. Suppose you’re a person like me going abroad and using the internet in a café or something and then this thing comes up saying that? You do realise you must pay for things like using the internet for pacific times. Ok, so maybe this is a fine idea for hackers – must be irritating for them for sure. But if you’re not.. then why are you supposed to wait 1 fucking hour. I mean that’s obsessive.. you think that people like me spend hours on the internet? ..Well, think again. We don’t. And we certainly aren’t going to answer like 1 question, wait one hour, then answer it again. Gosh.. this is annoying. Please fix this. I think everyone needs “help”. And even though there is a help button – to be honest, it doesn’t stick up to its purpose. Everyone who is in the same dilemma as me must be very frustrated. Facebook is an excellent site, and I never actually had any complaints but this has GOT to be the WORST aspect of Facebook. Sorry for the complaint, but please do something about it quick!
Can I just also add that when it says “sorry it was accurate enough” does that mean that you got one or two wrong or something? Look, please try and make this an easier aspect for all who is having the same issue. I mean seriously.. please!
My sister is visiting me in Italy and has been unable to log into facebook. The photo’s she is shown are not of anyone she recognises.
I suspect she will have the same problem when she gets home.
I do not see how this will impact upon fake accounts. It just shuts out a lot of people. Shut out too many and your advertisers might start to consider if facebook is the place to spend their revenue!
If facebook wont listen maybe we should be telling the advertisers.
I have the same problem.
If you find a solution please mail me maramori@yahoo.com
i and a lot of friends who log in to facebook while on holiday have got this same problem, some like myself who have tried when back home still can not get in again. there must be an easier way, most sites give you a reset from your email. the problem i have is a lot of friends use avators and not photo’s
and most are farmville and mafia wars friends who i don’t know from Adam!!!
its a very stupid way of proving who you are. looks like i am finished with facebook.
Stupid useless crap. Got a new internet provider, and nobody in the family can access their FB. Stupid picture identification is useless. Facebook, you’re a bunch of morons !
As Pete above says I too have just changed broadband providers and now been locked out
i have 300 members of which by far the most I let join to add as farmville players to help speed things up
this was encouraged at the time but now I have no idea what pictures these people posted
even the people I know update there photo albums so often its impossible to keep up with there pictures
this is by far the worst system i have ever seen and needs to be shut down right now
I cant see anybody who falls for this trap ever getting into there own account again
which is really annoying for me having spent almost 2 or 3 months building a rather large farm on farmville
at least i didnt spend any actual real money buying farm dollars for the application
people that have must be really upset
looks like goodbye facebook for me :(
best regards everybody and good luck
Ian
I have travelled abroad with my laptop that I ALWAYS use to log on to facebook. I am using my laptop via wifi at the hotel. It has asked me for security. My partner logged on next to me at the same time without question.
I am baffled!!
I can only suggest registering a mobile number prior to departure (on a new, free sim card if you want privacy) and using the option of confirming the phone number and receiving a validation code by sms.
I cannot confirm this works – I left my registered phone in the UK as it is not the most cost effective one to use here.
PIF (above comments 14 August 2010) said the following, which unfortunately is completely incorrect. My laptop is on my lap, it is the only computer I use at home and I have the problem!
“@all
The best way to avoid this problem is to travel with your own computer, if you have one.
But be sure to get ready before traveling: log on with your laptop to Facebook while you still have another computer handy like your desktop.
Facebook will then remember you already successfully logged in from this laptop and not bug you anymore, even if you log from a foreign country.
If you borrow a friend’s laptop to travel, do login to Facebook before going abroad.”
@Brockney
Ouch, that means we really don’t have any workaround.
As for verifying your account with a cellphone prior to running in those troubles, I don’t think it will work either, as my account was verified by cellphone already at the time I had the problem
@ PIF – I am hoping to get a friend to visit my house and get a code from my mobile. If it works I will let ya know :)
Basically, I have to enter the mobile number as an alternative to id-ing the photo’s, they send a code which I then enter, and hopefully, bingo!
Hey I would be really grateful if someone finds away around this, I am a painter and have hundreds of artist friends some who only use a painting rather than pic, just returned from Canada and cant log on. Is there a way of emailing facebook for help. Any replies would be grateful terryjohnwaites@aol.com thanks
this is realy making me hate facebook , it that u wanna get those who use peoples account like that and make others suffer do change because all the users know what they need.
i need to access my facebook from another country as i am on a short holiday. i however need to contirm that it’s my account by identifying some photos in my albums. i am however not given the chance to identify the photos as they dissappear quickly followed by the inscription ‘Your answers were not accurate enough.’ Do anybody know what is happenning
I also have the same issue as fancis!,, i have just been to the U.S where i tried to log into facebook. i was instructed to complete the identification process of my friends. I only have a small facebook profile with close friends and i know that my answers are 100% correct,,,, however i recieved the message ‘your answers were not accurate enough’, after trying 8 or 9 times i gave up!… now i am back in Australia i gave it another go and still the same result.
I have tried looking through the facebook help page, however they are all FAQ’s, and there is no contact information to deal with the situation directly… i have tried changing my security settings and logging in from different laptops however the same issue occurs!….
does anybody know what i should do???,, or who to contact???, i really need my site back as i am away from home with work constantly and is my only line to my family and friends……
I have recently been out of state and logged onto a computer to check my facebook wihile I was there. Since I have been home I have been unable to log onto my facebook account. The new facebook security system required my to identify pictures of my friends . I have not seen these friends is 30 years as I have NEVER seen their children or their frends. This secruity is a comple joke and I demand that my facebook account be restored with me having to jump through ridiculous hoops. My email address is stncld64@aol.com. I expect my account to be restored immediately. I can also be reached at 1-239-200-6037, please cal immediately.
Thank you
Junior Gallimore
I used to use facebook in my country and now I am in abroad for a quite long time. The problem is that when |I login to my facebook I need security check through the mobile phone number i used in my country. However that phone number is not longer available (because i am in different country so i use the local cell phone) so I cannot got SMS text to verify my account.
How can I access to my own facebook????
I was able to get back into my account and like many of you I have over 1,000 friends and don’t know all of them, their pictures or their kids. The way I did it was have 2 tabs open in my browser and looked the people up on Facebook in their “find a friend” option. It was not 100% all of the time because the people in the tagged photos do not always have a profile pic; however, it got me back into my account. I also used Twitter for one of the people! Just remember to do it quickly and if you can…have a friend on another computer help you look the people up because I read above that there is a time limit.
Good Luck!
Misty Hofstetter
i agree with tom, it leads to people creating extra accounts when they get locked out of hteir account, i think Facebook like this, because the more accounts they have the more power in the market they have, and the more their shares are worth.
I LOST MY FB ACCOUNT DUE TO THIS!
I’m pissed too, Fuckbook deleted my account a few weeks ago because of this. I logged in from my moms house and then from my cell phone, and then the next time from a break on work, I had this security shit. At one point I failed the captcha because it was hard to read!
Anyway, I was locked out of my account and facebook emailed me saying, “please describe your most recent activity on facebook and also your current profile picture”
So I emailed them back with that info, and continued to try to log in, wouldn’t let me….days went by, I’m getting more pissed, because I have all my family and friends on that. Never heard back from facebook. Those idiots are probably too comfy reclined on their weird chairs drinking too much coffee.
I have two friends who have died and now I lost them as a friend forever. I used to go to their facebooks on the anniversaries and birthdays and now I can’t anymore. I’m so mad.
I made a new account, but when I added my past buddies, everyone thought that I de-friended them. No one would believe that I lost my frickin account, which I have had for so many years.
Grrr.
OMG this just happened to me as I am traveling. WHO do I contact at facebook? Do you have an email? I went to ‘help’ but can’t find a specific contact for such and issue. Funny how FB has NO ONE to contact… Facebook are you truly serious with this method? A company that has build it’s business on numbers and you expect us to view and memorize all of our friends’ photos and how they are tagged when they either don’t even contain a person or the box is over 5 heads in a group shot and 2 of the people are options to choose from??? What a joke … Facebook in time as more and more people have to deal with this you will get more bad publicity. Get your stupid programmers to use REAL LIFE security verifications as options. HELLO NERDS – FIX THIS!!! Get you head out of your ass facebook…
just cyrious as to your thoughts on the new ‘facecrack’ “See Friendship” link on posts. Why bother filling out all sorts of PRIVACY information to block apps and non-friends when fb undoes it (undoes their own work… stupid?) overnight. What is the point?
My facebook acct was locked recently for no apparent reason and it wanted me to provide a phone number so I can recover my acct. I have not violated any of FB’s TOS. I don’t send invites to friends. In fact people are trying to “friend” me instead of the other way around. I don’t do business on my acct and certainly do NOT spam my “friends” so I have no idea why I was locked out. I think all these security measures you described above are way overkill. I agree that a simple email confirmation should be sufficient. I don’t know why we have to jump thru hoops just to get our accounts back.
idiot facebook, fucking facebook , go to hell facebook, stupid programmer..
Dear sir i’m unable to remember all the photos of my friends as security question to login in facebook,my account has bee compromised by someone, please help me to login in?
twice facebook made me go through this , i hate it and i forgot my security question
You have exceeded the hourly maximum number of tries for each of the methods below. They will be available to try again soon:……….. What’s this? Why?
Please help me to log in! :( :(
I want to get back into my account.
plz .. .help my facebook plz. . . .!!!!!!!
I have used this name zibeline for almost ten years, on- and offline. It is my nom de plume, the pseudonym I use for my fiction, the name under which I blog on wordpress. And now Facebook has deactivated my account based on their ridiculous and arbitrary policies. Time for me to move onto a better platform. But that still sucks because I have lost contact with my readers.
“To verify that you are the owner of this account, please identify the people tagged in the following photos”
I’m the owner of “seo.mantu@gmail.com/Facebook” but when I loge in show this message pl z help me.
I have to say although it does seem a bit over the top, I recently recieved that message and I haven’t been abroad. So in that respect it was useful otherwise I would have had no idea someone had been on it!
I’ve been lock out of FB for few weeks. I’ve tried everything pictures of friends id,
answered private questions ectc. I’ve conctated fb costumer service so many times , they sent me different codes & numbers that it just does work. I lost my phone , so I can’t get the private code to log in. I’ve changed different password trying to log in ; but it’s impossible to log in my account. why fb make so difficult?
What the hell is this? Anyway If I don’t suceed I will regrete ever wasting my time on fb or being a facebooker.I have many frenz n cannot know all the pics they’ve been tagged in!!!!!!!!!!!
FACE BOOK SECURITY CHECK SUCKS!!!!
This is ridiculous. I have more than 2000 friends in my list and how can I remember each and every tag of my friend? Currently, my account is locked because it is asking to identify tags which I do not remember. I can say this is the worst part of facebook which should be changed.
Can some IT genius not just create a new and better facebook with no privacy rubbish, billions of people will even be willing to pay for such a site where there are no blocks, captchas, delete, remove or report functions and where people will have complete freedom. Mark my words if such a facebook appears the current one will cease to exist.
To verify that you are the owner of this account, please identify the people tagged in the following photos. If you aren’t sure about a question, please click “Skip”.
To verify that you are the owner of this account, please identify the people tagged in the following photos. If you aren’t sure about a question, please click “Skip”.
THAT’S IS WRONG
sir meri fb id nahi khul rahi he so please
Can you help me ho argentlly
To verify that you are the owner of this account, please identify the people tagged in the following photos. If you aren’t sure about a question, please click “Skip”.
My wife is locked of her facebook. She is offered unrelated photos that we have never seen & asked to identify them. All skips end up with more stupid never seen before unidentifiable photos.
Tell me, why is that a smart idea?