Activate “hidden” Facebook security feature to prevent hackers from taking over your account

Rich DeMuro/KTLA

Updated: Apr 16, 2021 / 06:30 AM CDT

FILE – This March 29, 2018 file photo shows the Facebook logo on screens at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York’s Times Square. With vaccination against COVID-19 in full swing, social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter say they’ve stepped up their fight against misinformation that aims to undermine trust in the vaccines. But problems abound. For years, the same platforms have allowed anti-vaccination propaganda to flourish, making it difficult to stamp out such sentiments now. And their efforts to weed out other types of COVID-19 misinformation – often with fact-checks, informational labels and other restrained measures, has been woefully slow. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

(KTLA) — It happens all the time: hackers take control of Facebook accounts and their rightful owners can’t log in to get them back.

To keep this from happening to you, take a minute to set up a little known Facebook feature called Trusted Contacts to protect you.

It works by pre-selecting 3-5 friends. Then, if you ever get locked out of your account because a hacker takes over and changes your password, Facebook will send those friends a special code.

You can then contact these friends in real life to get the code and enter it into a recovery link.

Facebook knows you are the rightful owner of the account and hands you back control.

Here’s how to set it up.

Facebook mobile app:

Open the Facebook app on your phone
Tap the three lines in the lower right-hand corner (iOS) or upper right-hand corner (Android)
Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy
Tap Settings
Scroll down and tap Security & Login
Scroll and look for the option to “Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact if you get locked out”
Then follow the prompts to set up your Trusted Contacts

Desktop:

Make sure you’re logged into your Facebook account and go here
Scroll down to the section labeled “Setting Up Extra Security”
Click the option to “Choose 3 to 5 friends to contact if you get locked out”

That’s all there is to it. I also highly recommend setting up two-factor authentication for your Facebook account. This will verify all logins to your account with special code texted to your phone.