Scammers Push 24-Hour Meta Deletion Hoax, Using Fake PDFs to Steal Facebook Logins
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 11
Scammers Push 24-Hour Meta Deletion Hoax, Using Fake PDFs to Steal Facebook Logins
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 11
Summary
A fake "Meta Announcement" in Messenger warns that a Facebook account will be deleted within 24 hours, then uses a PDF attachment to lure users into surrendering passwords, 2FA codes or payment details.
Key red flags include the misspelled sender name "Meta Verrified," vague accusations of fraud or harassment, odd wording, and the fact that the alert arrives as a random chat rather than through Facebook’s own account tools.
The attachment labeled "Facebook Account Support Center.pdf" can route victims to phishing pages or harmful downloads, giving scammers a path to seize page admin access, lock users out, or scam their contacts.
Anyone who clicked should change their Facebook password, enable stronger two-factor authentication, review active sessions and contact details, secure the linked email account, and report and block the fake Messenger profile.
The safest check is to open Facebook directly instead of trusting links, logos or encrypted chats—security labels in Messenger do not verify that a sender actually works for Meta.