Meta fired dozens of employees, security guards for hijacking user accounts

Facebook parent Meta fired or disciplined more than two dozen employees and contractors over the past year for abusing an internal mechanism for forgotten passwords, according to internal documents.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the documents indicate that some workers accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from outside hackers to access user accounts.

Known internally as “Oops,” the mechanism has existed since the early years of Facebook and is intended for employees to help people they know – friends, family, business partners and public figures – recover forgotten passwords or emails or regain control of compromised accounts.

The disciplinary actions were part of an internal probe led by Meta executives, according to the documents and a source familiar with the matter. Some of the fired contractors were security guards at Meta facilities who were granted access to the Oops system.

The overuse of Oops, which stands for Online Operations, highlights the tensions inherent to how Meta supports more than 3 billion users across its platforms with virtually no customer service. The channel serviced about 50,000 tasks in 2020, more than double the number it processed three years earlier.

A cottage industry of Meta insiders has developed, charging money to help users regain control of their accounts. Some of them claimed to WSJ that they work with Meta employees to help reset accounts.

“Individuals selling fraudulent services are always targeting online platforms, including ours, and adapting their tactics in response to the detection methods that are commonly used across the industry,” a Meta spokesperson told WSJ. He added that the company “will keep taking appropriate action against those involved in these kinds of schemes.”