There is a simple process in which hackers or anyone can find your Facebook profile with the help of your phone number.
Process:
Step 1: The hacker opens his Facebook Messenger and clicks on the two people's icon (also known as the friend's icon) as shown below.
Step 2: The hacker then clicks the + sign in the upper right corner as shown below.
Step 3: After this, the hacker clicks the + sign just above the word "Add" in the upper right corner.
Step 4: In the next page, the following option "Enter someone's phone number to find them on Messenger" can be seen. Later the hacker enters your phone number to quickly find your Facebook profile.
Does this process work?
In the above process, as soon as the hacker enters your phone number, Facebook Messenger assumes that the hacker is your friend. As a result, Messenger starts showing your Facebook profile, so that your friend (hacker) can easily send you a friend request / message.
The process is also known in technical terms as "contact exploitation", where the site (eg, Facebook here) facilitates easy and rapid contact between friends. And, this secret route is used by hackers / scammers or anyone to find the desired hidden information.
Why it is a threat:
Scammers or fraudsters mostly rely on social engines. Attack to cheat you. Once the scammer has chosen you as their target, they will do all possible analysis to gather as much information about you as possible. Therefore, finding your Facebook profile is a boon for that, because the Facebook profile gives you all the information.
After collecting detailed information, the fraudster will send you a message or call you (because he has your phone number) by pretending to be the bank's agent, insurance agent, rich and beautiful girl etc.
Since the scammer has collected a lot of personal details based on Facebook analysis, he is now able to convince you that it is an actual message or call. After this, the fraudster will ask you to provide this information -
- Credit card information (for unauthorized transactions)
- Bank or Aadhaar details (for illegal transactions)
- Or suggest you to do some work - Click on the malicious link (to compromise your device)
- Download an app like Annie-Desk (to read your bank OTP)
- Pay a small amount of money online - Rs 5 (to collect credit card and OTP details)
Solution:
The solution is simple, remove your phone number from the Facebook profile, and link it with your mail ID. Currently, there is no process to search Facebook profiles using Mail ID. Since this "contact exploit" process does not work with a mail id.
Can a number be found using Facebook profile?
Although it is possible to search Facebook profiles with phone numbers using the procedure described above, the opposite is not possible. In other words, it is not possible to find a person's phone number from their Facebook profile (unless the phone number is mentioned by the user in the "About Info" section).
Conclusion:
Linking Facebook profiles to phone numbers invites a lot of profiling, thus a potential breach of privacy. Therefore, you are suggested to de-link the phone number from Facebook profile and can instead link Facebook account to your mail id.
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