Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by _joel 1360 days ago
Did you enable 2FA? If not sucks to be you.
1 comments

I had it on, I disabled it to switch my phone number as I got a new number, but they couldn’t verify the number, it was off for like 48 hours while I was trying to get that sorted, Instagram, twitch and Twitter took it no problem, Facebook however didn’t like the new number
This doesn't help you now, but why would you turn off 2FA to change a mobile number?

Should delete the old number as a 2FA option, then add another, while keeping authenticaror app / recovery codes / security key enabled.

Even if I did turn off 2FA on my Facebook account, the password is long and complex to the point that it's likely no one other then myself has ever used it in the past, nor will anyone other than myself ever use it in the future, for at least as long as the account exists.

If you are ever able to restore access to your account, I hope these security guidelines help.

When I tried to just swap it it wouldn’t authenticate the number, so I had to disable it, and then try to re enable it. For reference my password was very complex, if you saw it you’d think I smashed my head against my keyboard and went “there it is”
My sympathy.

Ideally you could have added QR code based authenticator when you removed phone number.

I mean yes, I didn’t think about that, but the meat and potatoes is - if you look at my IP you can see I log in from 2 devices, my PC and my phone both in Canada, I was able to go in and appeal it, and saw that the login was from somewhere in China. Almost 5 hours after logged off.

They say “we have no way of proving it wasnt you”

Yes you do - logged out in Canada at 1230am my time, logged in at 523am my time in CHINA, attempted log in at 8am my time in Canada.

Was hoping to find help here, but so far nothing, but I do appreciate that people are understanding, gonna keep trying to get support to answer my emails!

At the end since you are a hn user you very well know the way accounts get banned - 2FA or not. Blaming faang does not work.