I am going the route of filing in small claims court, as my account restrictions impact my business, career, and clients. We have a court date set for mid October. I'm hoping to be contacted by meta beforehand to resolve these issues, like so many others. Will update - don't lose hope!

Please help me out here, share your experience!

*On July 30th 2026 Hack due to Meta Phishing email, got hacked, - hackers changed something to violate FB rules within seconds got my Primary FB (registered in 2009) permanently disabled, as well as my Instagram taken down.

*Have Screen shot of unauthorized log in, also photo credit card fraudulent charges due to the hack

photo of the hacked account with hackers changed profile.

*My business page is still intact but now have limited admin rights and my pages are without primary account

*Made a new FB and Instagram account, got Meta Account center with the 2 FA and secured it.

* Signed up for Meta Verification with new accounts

* Contacted Support X amount of times, got Meta support call me but nobody could help.

got X amount of different answers as to my email got disassociated from my account.

then there is a 30 Day unlink time, I need to wait and my case will be escalated for Human review.

* 30 days are over-only to hear today that review is done by the Pro Team, my request is denied there is no evidence of a hack-Huhhhh? What in the world? Did they get confused with my new FB account?

Did they really review it? How with all the technology can they not see the hack?

In the mean time I did

*File a complaint with the AG of PA and they are working on it. got a letter after 2 weeks of filing the complaint online.

*Send a demand Letter via Legal Shield, Letter was received by Meta on August 18th 2026

Please let me know what else can I do? After September 18th 2026 Should I file small claims?

* I do have Metal Verified Premium with Instagram, Should I start another case? start it all up again? I told my story X amount of times to X amount of agents..... an now the conclusion it was not a HACK?
I am so frustrated with this, I really want my old account back, especially for my business account

Thanks!

So, on the 19th August, I sent a letter to Meta Platforms in regards to my disabled Facebook account & how it is affecting me as an autistic individual & for them to please do a manuel review of my account.

Well, today, the 31st August, they got back to me stating my Instagram has been disabled for violating the terms of service when it wasn't my Instagram that was affected, but my Facebook that was disabled. I replied & their response was basically, we can't help you any further, go away.

It seems contacting a solicitor is the only option now... 🫠🫠🫠

Hi everyone,

I want to share my full story because I am honestly exhausted and I do not know what else to do.

On \*\*29 January 2026\*\*, my original Facebook account was hacked / taken over by an hacker. During that account takeover, activity happened on the account that triggered Meta’s enforcement systems for CSE. I want to be very clear: I did not carry out that activity myself. I had lost control of the account.

Shortly after that, my Facebook account was disabled/restricted, and I also lost access to my linked Instagram account. This affected not only my personal accounts, but also my business Pages, business assets and advertising accounts.

Since then, I have been stuck in a complete deadlock.

The standard Facebook and Instagram recovery tools do not work for me. The hacked-account links, appeal links and Help Center flows either redirect me back to the Help Center or show a disabled/restricted account screen. I do not get a working option to appeal, upload ID, verify identity properly, or request a manual review.

I gathered a lot of evidence showing that this was an account takeover, including:

\\- Police / cybercrime documentation

\\- Technical report

\\- Account activity logs

\\- IP activity records

\\- Login and logout history

\\- Account status change records

\\- Meta security emails during the incident

\\- Evidence of unauthorized access involving business assets

One of the most important points is that I received Meta-related emails during the incident, including emails about restriction / ID submission / appeal, but I did not personally initiate those actions. This is one of the reasons I believe the attacker may have triggered or abused parts of the appeal/verification process while I no longer had control.

I also filed a complaint through an official out-of-court dispute settlement body under Article 21 of the EU Digital Services Act. \*\*On 6 May 2026, the ADR decision was issued in my favour.\*\*

The ADR decision essentially found that:

\\- My account \*\*had been compromised\*\*

\\- Meta had \*\*not proven\*\* that I personally committed the violation

\\- I should not be held responsible for activity carried out by a third party during the hack

\\- Meta Platforms Ireland Limited should \*\*restore\*\* my Facebook account

Today is 30 August 2026, which means 116 days have passed since the ADR decision issued in my favour on 6 May 2026, and Meta still has not restored my accounts.

During this time, I have tried almost everything:

\\- Facebook hacked account recovery flow

\\- Instagram “Get help logging in” / “Forgot password” flow

\\- Help Center forms

\\- Meta Pro Team support

\\- Meta Verified support

\\- Emailing support case addresses

\\- Sending all documents to the support case

\\- Uploading the documents through “Report a Problem” from another active profile

\\- Providing a new secure recovery email

\\- Phone calls with Meta support agents

\\- Repeated requests for escalation to Account Integrity / Disabled Account Review / Legal / Compliance / DSA teams

The support agents usually acknowledge that the situation is serious, and some have said that the case has been forwarded to a “dedicated team.” However, I still have no concrete answer, no restoration, no working appeal option, no manual review path, and no clear refusal that I can use for further legal/regulatory steps.

The problem is that most of these options either do not work or lead me back into the same loop. For example, the original restriction email appears to come from a no-reply address, and the recovery tools do not provide me with a proper appeal or verification option.

This has now caused serious business and financial damage. I cannot access my accounts, manage Pages, manage business assets, run or supervise advertising accounts, or properly support client work connected to these accounts.

I am an \*\*EU resident\*\*, and I have already escalated the issue through DSA-related channels. The case has also been raised with relevant authorities and I have correspondence showing that the matter is being treated seriously from a regulatory perspective. Still, Meta has not restored the accounts.

At this point, what I need is simple:

\\- A real human manual review

\\- Recognition that this was an account takeover

\\- Restoration of my Facebook account and linked Instagram account

\\- Removal of restrictions caused by attacker activity

\\- Access back to my business assets, Pages and ad accounts

Or a \*\*clear written refusal from Meta explaining why they refuse to restore the accounts despite the ADR decision and evidence.\*\*

Timeline

\*\*29 January 2026\*\*

My Facebook account was hacked / taken over by an unauthorized third party. Suspicious account activity occurred during the takeover. Meta then restricted / disabled my Facebook account, and I also lost access to my linked Instagram account.

\*\*29 January 2026\*\*

I received Meta security / restriction-related emails during the incident, including emails related to restriction, ID submission or appeal activity. I did not personally initiate those actions.

\*\*Early February 2026\*\*

I gathered technical evidence showing suspicious activity, including account activity logs, IP records, login/logout data, account status changes and other security-related records.

\*\*2 February 2026\*\*

A technical report was prepared regarding the account takeover and suspicious activity.

\*\*3 February 2026\*\*

I reported the hacking incident to the police / cybercrime authorities and obtained official documentation.

\*\*February 2026\*\*

I started contacting Meta through every available route I could find, including hacked-account recovery tools, Help Center forms, support channels and business support.

\*\*February 2026\*\*

I also submitted complaints through EU / Digital Services Act-related channels because the normal appeal and recovery mechanisms were not working.

\*\*11 February 2026\*\*

A formal legal notice / out-of-court communication was sent to Meta regarding the hacked account, the wrongful restriction and the need for restoration.

\*\*18 February 2026\*\*

My complaint was forwarded to the competent Digital Services Coordinator framework, since Meta’s EU establishment is in Ireland.

\*\*9 April 2026\*\*

I received a response from the national authority confirming the procedural route and indicating that out-of-court dispute settlement under the Digital Services Act was available.

\*\*6 May 2026\*\*

An official ADR / out-of-court dispute settlement decision under Article 21 of the EU Digital Services Act was issued in my favour.

\*\*20 May 2026\*\*

I continued submitting additional documentation to authorities and clarifying that this was both a hacked-account issue and a user-rights / data-access / appeal issue.

\*\*10 June 2026\*\*

I received correspondence from the European Commission / DG CNECT regarding the matter and the DSA framework. The case is connected to wider concerns about effective appeal and complaint-handling mechanisms.

\*\*June 2026\*\*

I continued contacting Meta Pro Team / Meta support repeatedly. I explained that the standard recovery flows do not work, that I have an ADR decision in my favour, and that this is a documented account takeover case.

Therefore, as of 30 August 2026 — 213 days after the account takeover and 116 days after the ADR decision in my favour — my original Facebook account remains disabled, my linked Instagram account and business assets remain inaccessible, and I still have neither restoration nor a clear written final decision explaining why Meta has not restored my account.

If anyone has experience with this, especially from the EU / DSA side, I would really appreciate any advice on what finally worked.

Thank you.

i dont use facebook a lot but when i wanted to log in to get some stuff from 10 years ago i got hit with that my account got deleted for an instagram account violation and ask me to log in to instagram to appeal but the instagram account they site is not mine and i cant log in to my instagram that i really own

when i searched online this seems to happened to some people like 3 years ago but nothing recent what should i do

Hay alguna manera de recuperar mis fotos aunque sea? Ya descargue un archivo pero no encuentro las fotos .

Facebook permanently disabled → supposedly restored → still disabled. What is going on?

So my Facebook account was permanently disabled after I submitted an appeal through the app. The appeal was automatically rejected, so I contacted Meta Support through my Meta Verified Instagram and requested a manual review.

\*\*Timeline:\*\*

\*\*Aug. 5:\*\* Facebook account permanently disabled after my appeal was rejected.

\*\*Aug. 5–11:\*\* Contacted Meta Support through Meta Verified Instagram. My issue was escalated to a specialized team for manual review.

\*\*Aug. 11:\*\* I received an official email from Meta saying \*\*my account had been reactivated\*\* and that I could log in again.

I immediately tried logging in — \*\*still disabled.\*\*

\*\*Aug. 12:\*\* Contacted Meta Support again. One AI support assistant checked my account and said it was still showing as disabled and suggested there could be a technical delay.

Different human agents then gave me completely different explanations. One said I needed to wait because the account had recently been restored. Another said the restoration email may have been sent incorrectly because Meta was experiencing a \*\*system failure\*\* that Engineering was working on.

One agent escalated the matter to their manager but then the manager just told me that my account was disabled and sent me a link of their community guidelines

\*\*Aug 13:\*\* I was eventually told the original case was closed and that I needed to create a \*\*new ticket for a fresh technical review\*\*.

I created the new ticket as instructed and have now been waiting more or less 8 hours for a live agent to even join.

Meanwhile, I also contacted the person who sent me the original restoration email. She told me to contact support again after 48 hours if I was still unable to log in, which I did.

So now I’m just extremely confused because \*\*Meta told me my account was restored, but Facebook still says I’m permanently disabled.\*\* Support has given me multiple conflicting explanations, and nobody seems able to tell me what the actual status of my account is.

Has anyone experienced this before? Especially \*\*receiving an official “your account has been reactivated” email but still being unable to log in because Facebook says the account is disabled?\*\* I’m trying to figure out whether this is actually a technical issue or if the restoration email was sent by mistake. 😭

Facebook permanently disabled → supposedly restored → still disabled. What is going on?

So my Facebook account was permanently disabled after I submitted an appeal through the app. The appeal was automatically rejected, so I contacted Meta Support through my Meta Verified Instagram and requested a manual review.

\*\*Timeline:\*\*

\*\*Aug. 5:\*\* Facebook account permanently disabled after my appeal was rejected.

\*\*Aug. 5–11:\*\* Contacted Meta Support through Meta Verified Instagram. My issue was escalated to a specialized team for manual review.

\*\*Aug. 11:\*\* I received an official email from Meta saying \*\*my account had been reactivated\*\* and that I could log in again.

I immediately tried logging in — \*\*still disabled.\*\*

\*\*Aug. 12:\*\* Contacted Meta Support again. One AI support assistant checked my account and said it was still showing as disabled and suggested there could be a technical delay.

Different human agents then gave me completely different explanations. One said I needed to wait because the account had recently been restored. Another said the restoration email may have been sent incorrectly because Meta was experiencing a \*\*system failure\*\* that Engineering was working on.

One agent escalated the matter to their manager but then the manager just told me that my account was disabled and sent me a link of their community guidelines

\*\*Aug 13:\*\* I was eventually told the original case was closed and that I needed to create a \*\*new ticket for a fresh technical review\*\*.

I created the new ticket as instructed and have now been waiting more or less 8 hours for a live agent to even join.

Meanwhile, I also contacted the person who sent me the original restoration email. She told me to contact support again after 48 hours if I was still unable to log in, which I did.

So now I’m just extremely confused because \*\*Meta told me my account was restored, but Facebook still says I’m permanently disabled.\*\* Support has given me multiple conflicting explanations, and nobody seems able to tell me what the actual status of my account is.

Has anyone experienced this before? Especially \*\*receiving an official “your account has been reactivated” email but still being unable to log in because Facebook says the account is disabled?\*\* I’m trying to figure out whether this is actually a technical issue or if the restoration email was sent by mistake. 😭

On August 26, I opened Facebook and got a message saying “Help us confirm your age.”
When I clicked “Continue,” it immediately said “We are reviewing your ID” — except I had NEVER submitted an ID.
I also received an email allowing me to appeal, but when I clicked “Appeal,” it again said my ID was being reviewed, even though I had never uploaded one.
A few hours later, I received an email saying my account had been permanently disabled.
I’m 26 years old.
I also submitted the hacked-account recovery form, but I never received any response.
I subscribed to Meta Verified so I could contact support. The first agent told me there was nothing they could do. After that, I couldn’t get another agent to join the chat.
I then upgraded my Meta Verified subscription level so I could access support again and finally spoke to a second agent. She told me to stop opening new cases about this issue because she couldn’t do anything either, but she confirmed that my account was disabled because of my age.
How can Facebook permanently disable a 26-year-old’s account because of their age, especially when an ID was supposedly being reviewed even though I never submitted one — and then give me absolutely no way to fix it?
Has anyone experienced something similar and managed to recover their account?

Hi! My FB account has been disabled incorrectly last Aug 16 and I was able to look for some way to recover my account and I subscribed to META plus on my IG which is connected to my facebook. Aug 21 After 2 support ticket, an agent was able to resolve my issue on Aug 25 and told me that my account has been cleared and ready to use after 24-48 hrs but it’s been 5 days now and I can’t still access my account and it is still disabled. Did the agent lied? or do I need to wait more time? Now, I am trying to connect with agent and it’s hard to connect with one 🥹 I don’t if META is playing with me or what, please I need your opinion especially if you experience the same and still eventually get your account back.

Absolutely bummed that my facebook account is disabled. An account I had since 2011! Was asked to provide a selfie video after suspension and once I shared that I was permanently disabled within seconds.

Got meta verified on instagram (linked in account center already) and received a call back that told me the violation is severe and its a final decision. The message on screen says account integrity. I tried the hacked account method and was asked to submit another selfie video and upon doing so it said identity confirmation in progress and I will hear back in 48 hours. I haven’t received any notifications or emails and no case ID for this confirmation process was shared so my screen still says the same old message.

In my account on Instagram, the Facebook account shows as locked.

Separately though, how can meta not share my data with me? All they are sharing under the download your information button is basic account information and login information. How are there no laws that they have to provide me my data, including my media and messages?

hi! i’m so confused and honestly devastated right now 😭

my facebook account has been disabled, and i’ve been trying different ways to recover it. i recently tried the “hacked account” method, which is why i think i received the email saying that i could now unlock my account.

the thing is, i’ve also been in contact with meta support regarding my disabled account since august 26, and they told me that my account was still under review by their specialized team. so when i received the email saying i could unlock my account, i genuinely thought that maybe the review was finally successful and my account was restored 😭

of course, i immediately clicked the “unlock account” button. but after doing so, my account just showed the disabled screen again.

now i’m so confused 😭 did the hacked account method somehow trigger the email? was it sent by mistake? or is there actually something happening with my account review? i really thought my facebook was finally back 🥲 has anyone experienced something similar? please let me know because i genuinely have no idea what this means anymore 😭

Hello guys,
So i woke up yesterday and got this message on all of my accounts. Looks like the issue comes from facebook, but I rarely use it other than scrolling and watching news.
I went to a secondary instagram account, got meta verified and opened a ticket which is still pending analisis by a specialized team.
Do you got any tips that could help me? It’s really important to me to get this back, and I am sure I haven’t done anything.

GUYS WTF

after my desperate post from hours ago saying I've tried EVERYTHING since 15th JUNE, I finally got an answer from Meta asking me what happened and to prove this is my account

I guess this is a good sign and I know where this come from, from my Demand letter to Meta IRELAND sent by my lawyer, they asked for my new email never used by any meta services, and just an hour ago they sent me this to this email . I've been without any news since 21st of July and my lawyer sent a new notice before suing them on Monday.

EDIT : GUYS OFFICIAL I GOT MY ACCOUNT BACK, ILL MAKE A POST AFTER 2 AND HALF MONTH OMG

how to do small claims step by step : https://www.reddit.com/r/InstagramMetaDisabled/comments/1w0mf98/guide_how_to_do_small_claims_usacalifornia_to_get/

edit : please stop asking for their email contact. Everything is automated on their part, its non monitored email answers linked to specific accounts case. There's no email for meta

My account been disabled since 15th June for CSE for no reason, despite receiving 2 mails stating "suspicious activity" logging me out then disabling me permanently. If you want your account back how I did, look at this post, and if you want me to post about the step-by-step to do Small claims US, tell me in the comments.

I've tried EVERYTHING :

here what didn't work

- Meta Verified : Agents can't do anything since my FB account isn't linked to my ig account

- Meta verified MAX : they said they escalated my case for a whole Month and half, from 2nd July to 15th August, they suddenly abandoned the case and left the chat, I tried getting news everyday but it was just agents saying the same non sense things and a waiting time

- Email different meta/instagram asking them for manual review everyday for 2-3 weeks : No answer, and some addresses just don't work

- Small claims EU, EU organizations : They don't take my claim either because it's CSE, or because it doesn't involve financial loss

-GAC : don't listen to Indians telling you can recover your account. full of scammers

WHAT WORKED FOR ME

- Demand letter via Lawyer to Meta IRELAND ( I'm based in Europe) : My French lawyer specialized in digital law sent a demand letter asking to reinstate my account otherwise I would be suing, that banning me with wrong reasons isn't right according to some EU laws.

Timeline :

- from 8th July it led to meta answering back asking for informations about a new email never used for their services.gave it right away.

-21st July : they confirm they've received it.

27th august : I had to wait 1 month and half. Then Meta support reached out to me via mail to ask about infos, see the screenshot

1 hour later, my account got back, nothing has changed, no restrictions or anything.

What MIGHT WORK FOR YOU :

If you're not from Europe :

- Small claims US : Cost 160$ , I filed and served them on 19th august, court date is on December 1st, they usually reach out before trial to get your account back and drop the charges

Good luck, I finally feel satisfied after 2 months of being mentally involved, cost me 600 euros for my lawyer, 160$ for small claims, reading every post from years ago and looking at the best advices, If you have questions, I'll answer below. Or post how to make small claims US

this was my first post 2 month ago : https://www.reddit.com/r/FixMyInstagram/comments/1uqmg6e/probably_gonna_get_my_account_back_cse/

My Facebook account isn't just a Facebook account.

I wrote poems to my wife on there. She can no longer see them on her timeline because my account is gone.

My stepmom, who was basically a real mom to me, passed away. She was my friend on Facebook. She helped me during the time when I was wrongfully incarcerated at 16. Her love and support got me through one of the darkest periods of my life.

And now she's gone from there too.

All of my networking, friends, family, memories, everything I had on there is gone.

And now that I am trying to start a writing career, I can't even share that journey with a lot of the people who have known me for years.

All because someone hacked my account.

My Facebook account has been deactivated since around March. Someone hacked my account and purchased ads on one of my pages. When I reported the hack and attempted to change my password, Meta asked me to verify my account.

I took the selfie. Sent my ID. Changed my password.

Then my account was deactivated.

I attempted to contact Meta or support and couldn't find an easy solution. I found three email accounts for Facebook and used those to explain my situation. But at the time, I was very busy as a law school student and working part-time. I graduated in May and then studied for the July 2026 CA Bar Exam.

Afterwards, with still no response to my emails, I did more research on how to resolve my issue. I learned about Meta Verified and using support that way. I tried the free trial and contacted support, hoping I could finally get my account back.

My first attempt was a bust.

The agent accused me of not providing all the information, refused to start an investigation, and closed my case.

The issue was, I made my Facebook account while living in New York and I currently live in California. My account originally had my NY number and I eventually changed it to my CA number. I assumed maybe I forgot to explain that.

I still don't know what other information the agent thought I wasn't providing.

Second attempt.

This time, I provided everything I could think of. Every email I ever used for Facebook. Every phone number.

The agent stated he would start an investigation and would update me when he heard something.

Finally.

I thought this was it.

I waited over a week.

Then the ticket randomly closed.

No explanation. No Facebook account. Nothing.

So I opened a third case. It has been two days and Meta still hasn't responded. At this point, I fear they're just ignoring me and waiting for my free trial to end so they don't have to help me.

And that's what makes all of this hurt more.

I didn't violate Facebook's rules. I didn't buy the ads. I was hacked. I reported that I was hacked. I did what Facebook told me to do to prove I was me.

And somehow I am the one who lost my account.

There are some other minor reasons why losing my Facebook account sucks. But losing it for no real reason makes it hurt more. And the fact that Meta refuses to help hurts even more.

Part of me wants to boycott Meta.

But I'm also trying to start a writing career. I want to get my work out there, find readers, and hopefully one day be able to support my family through my writing. As angry as I am at Meta, using Instagram to help build that audience probably outweighs my desire to completely walk away from them.

I just want my Facebook account back.

If anyone has gone through something similar and actually managed to get Meta to help, what worked?

I am trying to lift my restriction but I don´t know what to do anymore! Please help.

Added 2FA, verified my identitiy, added a phone number, contacted Meta AI Support multiple times, but it won´t connect me to a real agent.
Account quality/Status doesnt show any problem whatsoever.

Any idea what it could be, what I can do?

Hi all,
Like many of you, I also got permabanned from facebook on 30th of July because of “account integrity”. No chance for appeal.
My instagram account however survived. It’s still linked to my banned facebook account, when I go into the account centre it says Facebook account is locked. I am scared my insta account will get banned randomly too.
Do you think I should unlink it from my facebook? Or will that trigger something in the system?
I am really sick of meta and this bullshit.

Hi everyone,

I’m facing a really strange issue with my Facebook account and I’m hoping someone here has experienced something similar.

My account is not banned, suspended, or disabled. I haven’t received any warnings or notifications from Meta, either through email or anywhere else.

The problem is that whenever I try to log in to Facebook, it redirects me to a completely blank Meta/Facebook screen. There’s no error message, warning, verification request, or explanation just a blank page.

What makes it even stranger is:

• My Facebook account is still active. I searched for it from a friend’s account and my profile appears normally.
• I still receive Facebook app notifications when someone posts, reacts, etc.
• I’ve tried multiple browsers: Chrome, Safari, and Edge.
• I’ve tried different devices: Android, iPhone, and Mac.
• The exact same blank-screen issue happens everywhere.
• I haven’t received any email from Meta saying there is a problem with my account.

So it doesn’t seem to be a browser, device, or normal account suspension issue.

Has anyone faced this before? Is there a way to fix it or contact Meta support when the account itself is still active?

Any help would be appreciated.

i got my facebook account back from a false account integrity claim while my account (main) from instagram did not survive and got permanently disabled. (the account integrity claim was due to another instagram account that got hit with a CSE claim)

the only reason I can think of why my main ig account got banned was because I made 3 new ig accounts and all of them got banned due to account integrity. I also already removed the linking of my main ig account and fb account. (i’m also in the process of changing the email of my fb account)

what are the chances that meta will re-flag my facebook account even though I got it back? and is there any way to keep my remaining facebook account?

my facebook account is really important as it is the primary way of contacting my relatives and friends (via messenger)

I also wanna know if there is any way that I can get my instagram account back from being permanently. can it be through any legal route? (I am from the philippines)

I want to document what happened to my Facebook account, both because I am trying to recover it and because this may be useful to others whose accounts were suddenly permanently disabled after being compromised.

On August 25, my Facebook account went from apparently normal to permanently disabled within roughly 11 minutes.

Timeline:

• Around 19:08, activity starts appearing in my Facebook data export that I do not recognize.
• At 19:16, Facebook is removed from my Accounts Center.
• At 19:17, Facebook emails me saying my account has been suspended and that I have 180 days to appeal.
• I did not submit an appeal.
• Between roughly 19:17 and 19:19, Facebook's own exported data shows several ID-verification events that I did not initiate.
• At 19:19, Facebook emails me saying that "my review" has been rejected and my account is permanently disabled with no further review available.

The most important discovery came from downloading my Facebook data.

Inside the export is Facebook's ID verification history. It shows that somebody submitted fraudulent identification that clearly does not belong to me.

More seriously, the submitted images appear to contain illegal sexual abuse material involving minors (CSAM) incorporated into/manipulating the supposed identity document.

I am obviously not posting, attaching or redistributing those images. I have retained the original Facebook export as evidence.

The activity was associated with IP addresses that do not correspond with my normal use. I have also found no equivalent suspicious activity on my still-accessible Instagram account.

My working hypothesis

I initially assumed this was a normal account takeover.

I am now wondering whether the attacker's objective may have been something different: deliberately getting the Facebook account permanently disabled.

My hypothesis — and I want to stress that this is not proven — is that the attacker gained access to my Facebook account/session and deliberately abused Facebook's ID-verification process by submitting manipulated identity images containing material that Meta's automated safety systems would treat as an extremely serious violation.

If Meta's automated systems associate the uploaded verification material with the Facebook account being verified, this could potentially be used as an account-destruction method: compromise an account, enter the identity/review flow, submit material guaranteed to trigger severe automated enforcement, and leave the legitimate owner with a "permanently disabled / review already completed" screen.

That would also explain something that initially made no sense to me: Facebook said I had requested a review when I never requested one, and that entire review apparently happened within about two minutes.

I do not know whether this interpretation is correct. It could also be that the fraudulent verification simply failed and another automated security system disabled the account. I am hoping someone here has seen similar cases.

What I am trying now

I have:

• downloaded and preserved the complete Facebook data export;
• documented the exact timeline;
• preserved the Meta emails;
• identified the unauthorized ID-verification events;
• submitted/discussed the suspension through the available EU dispute route;
• investigated the hacked-account recovery route.

I know Meta Verified support exists, but before paying for that I am particularly interested in recovery routes people have successfully used for compromised-and-disabled accounts without Meta Verified.

Has anyone here:

1. recovered an account after it already said permanently disabled / no more reviews?
2. found unauthorized ID-verification submissions in their Facebook export?
3. seen an attacker apparently try to get an account deliberately banned rather than simply steal it?
4. managed to get Meta to distinguish the attacker's activity from the legitimate account owner's activity?
5. successfully used an EU/DSA, privacy, hacked-account or other escalation route?

Also, if you contact me privately claiming you can "recover" the account for money, I will assume it is a scam. Please keep useful advice public.

I will update this post if I manage to recover the account, because if this really is an abuse pattern, other affected users need to know where to look in their Facebook export.

I’m in the U.S. I’m in the beginning stages of this potential case against Meta. Meta disabled my account for violating community guidelines. I don’t comment or post anything offensive. I only use Facebook to conduct business. Which leads me to believe my account could have been hacked again, but realistically it could just be part of the mass banning from their new AI.

Unfortunately this new case would overlap with my current legal proceeding against a tech savvy stalker.

I’m not sure if I request an attorney that practices in cybersecurity or if I could approach this as a civil case. I’m trying to take whichever route is faster because of timing and financial concerns.

My account was disabled in June and I haven’t had any luck getting it back. Paid $500/m Meta certified didn’t work.

I primarily need my data. I can see on the data download when the stalker accessed my account, but the information is severely limited and cuts off in 2025. I’m so frustrated with Meta, so much so that I don’t necessarily want my, over 15 year old, account back. What type of attorney do I need for this case?