That day you find you’re suddenly in charge of Facebook’s official UK account

That day you find you're suddenly in charge of Facebook's official UK account

According to media reports, Facebook’s official UK account was compromised on Friday evening.

And, it seems, whoever gained the unexpected ability to push out messages from Facebook’s official UK account was as baffled as to what was going on as the thousands of people who saw the post.

Fb 1

No idea why I suddenly have access to post stuff as Facebook. Or have I got it completely wrong and I’m not posting as Facebook UK?

So, what does someone do when they discover they have the ability to post from Facebook’s own account? Moan about the cricket, of course!

Fb 2

Let me take this opportunity to let ICC & BCC know the they have completely botched the event by not issuing visas to people wanted to watch Cricket World Cup in person. They should allow visas to Pakistani journalists and fans to visit the beautiful India. Come on people!

And while we’re discussing cricket, why not take the opportunity to share your thoughts on the plight of recently-sentenced former Pakistani Prime Minister (and cricket legend) Imran Khan?

Fb 3

Also, release Imran Khan!!!

It wasn’t all cricket, however.

Fb 4

Twitter user @durranee claimed responsibility for the posts.

His reward? He had his Facebook account deleted (as well as his Instagram and Threads accounts.)

Fb 5

Clearly Meta was not amused.

@Durranee posted that he was “honestly kinda happy, it’s one less thing to check but I wish I had downloaded my pictures over the years.”

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It’s all very bizarre, and there’s no clear indication of just how an unauthorised party was able to post as Facebook UK’s official page.

If Facebook can’t properly defend even its own pages, how does it expect hundreds of millions of other Facebook pages to do any better?


Graham Cluley is an award-winning keynote speaker who has given presentations around the world about cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. A veteran of the computer security industry since the early 1990s, he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows, makes regular media appearances, and is the co-host of the popular "The AI Fix" and "Smashing Security" podcasts. Follow him on Bluesky and Mastodon, or drop him an email.

4 comments on “That day you find you’re suddenly in charge of Facebook’s official UK account”

  1. Chris

    Disabled and deleted are two different things.

    1. Graham CluleyGraham Cluley · in reply to Chris

      Yes, but he says the accounts were deleted.

      https://twitter.com/durranee/status/1710577830579298763

      1. Chris · in reply to Graham Cluley

        That's what he says, but his screenshot says otherwise. His error, not yours.

        1. Shireen Durrani · in reply to Chris

          he got his account back

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