 Unfortunately people getting their Facebook pages hacked or otherwise having access issues with their Facebook business page is a common incurrence. While usually the person getting hacked is not at fault there are a few things you can do to make your Facebook profile more secure, especially if you manage a business and are running ads on the platform. There is often minimal or non-existent support from Facebook is something goes wrong with your account so it's best to take precautions and follow best practice security protocols to reduce any risk of losing access to your page. Passwords & Recovery codes Let's start with the obvious - use a strong password for your Facebook page, a unique password you don’t use elsewhere and a password you shouldn't share with other people. A Facebook business page doesn't have a seperate login and password - it is (or should be) accessed via your personal page. Therefore it is important to make sure your personal page has the proper security measures in place. Likewise, every seperate Instagram account (personal profiles and business accounts) should have a seperate login and seperate password. You can also set up Recovery Codes which are a list of 10 numerical codes that can be used to access your account if the phone number associated with your Facebook profile cannot be accessed. 2-Factor / Multi-Factor Authentication 2-Factor authentication means a time sensitive security code is sent to either an email address or phone number linked to your account if you're trying to access any of your Facebook security settings or are logging in on any unrecognised devices. Another option is using a code that changes every minute set up via an authenticator app - both Google and Microsoft have authenticator apps available to use. This can make it tricky if working with an agency and trying to grant remote access to others, however the security benefits are well worth it. Page Visibility One thing page managers can control is what countries their page is visible in, if you only operate in New Zealand, limiting your Page visibility to New Zealand only can help notably reduce the number of spam messages and therefore potential security threats. Facebook Page Access, Page Ownership and Navigating Business Portfolio This is where it gets confusing. There are many different ways to access Facebook page settings. Business Portfolio is basically the site that houses Facebook Page/s, Ad accounts, Instagram account and other assets for a business. This is different to Business Suite which primary purpose is scheduling content. A Business Portfolio can house multiple Facebook Pages however Business Suite only controls one Facebook page at a time. The highest level of Page Access and ultimately Page ‘Ownership’ can be found by accessing Meta Business Suite > Business Settings > People. People can be added to and post to a Facebook page without needing to be added Business Portfolio which is where people get confused with what page access they have or have given to others. I’ve seen cases where a business owner does not technically ‘own’ their Facebook page because either a previous business owner or a previous agency had created the page and not given full control / ownership of the page to the current business owner. If you're lost after reading the above, don't stress! However it does pay to know if others have access to your Facebook page and/or Business Portfolio. If you need support checking this I'm happy to arrange a screen share session to guide you through it. Note down your unique page identifiers Your Business Manager account, page and ad account (if you have one) each have a unique ID number which can help a lot of people trying to regain access to any accounts they've been locked out of. These numbers can be helpful when lodging any support queries with Facebook - especially if a hacker has changed your page name. There will be a unique number for the below Facebook 'assets'. Page ID: Business Portfolio ID: Ad account ID: Simply Google "how to find Facebook Page ID" if you need help doing so. This can all be a lot to keep in mind however given that Facebook can be notoriously difficult to get a hold off when needed and only a minority of hacked or compromised accounts are ever recovered, these steps are minor relative to the problem of losing your Facebook page completely. Been hacked? Below are the two offical links Facebook will direct you to if you have any access issues or your account has been hacked. Generally you need to have your Facebook login email handy. Below this are other links provided by the Meta Support team although the option to chat with a real person seems to be unavailable the majority of the time. https://www.facebook.com/hacked https://www.facebook.com/login/identify — 1) Business Support : https://www.facebook.com/business/help 2) Ads Manager : https://www.facebook.com/ads/manager/accounts/ 3) Business Manager : https://business.facebook.com/settings/. To start live chat Business support : 1) Visit this link : https://www.facebook.com/business/help 2) Scroll down to where it says: “Find answers or contact support” and click on “Get Started” 3) Choose a category (Ads Manager) 4) At the bottom of the screen, you can click on “Chat with a representative |