Facebook and Instagram scams

Fake Facebook and Instagram messages try to get your password or money, often by threatening a ban. Meta says its staff never ask for passwords, payment details or money by chat or email.

Check a Facebook and Instagram link

How to report a Facebook and Instagram scam

  • Facebook phishing emails or messages: [email protected]
  • Emails claiming to be from Instagram: [email protected]
  • Inside Facebook or Instagram: Use the Report links on the post, profile or message.

Then get the fake site taken down: report the phishing link.

What Facebook and Instagram says

  • Facebook says any email from Facebook or Meta only comes from fb.com, facebook.com, facebookmail.com, instagram.com, meta.com or metamail.com, or their subdomains.
  • Facebook says Meta representatives will never request money or ask for passwords, payment details or other sensitive information over chat or by email.
  • Instagram says you can see official Instagram emails from the last 14 days in Settings, under Meta Account (or Accounts Center), Login and security, Recent emails.
  • Instagram says it will never contact you about profile security through Direct Messages. Security emails only come from @support.facebook.com, @support.instagram.com, @facebookmail.com, @mail.instagram.com or @global.metamail.com.
  • Facebook warns that fake Business Manager partner requests with phishing links have been sent from the real facebookmail.com domain. If you do not know the person or business, do not click.

Facebook and Instagram's own warning page: Protect yourself from phishing on Facebook | Facebook Help Center

What fake Facebook and Instagram messages look like

  • Business Manager partner requests containing phishing links, sometimes sent from the real facebookmail.com domain
  • Posts with shocking news that link to a fake Facebook login page
  • Emails saying you must log in to Instagram to read an important message
  • Messages threatening to ban or delete your account

Real Facebook and Instagram websites end in

  • facebook.com
  • instagram.com
  • meta.com
  • fb.com

Checked against Facebook and Instagram's own pages on 2026-10-19 (first published 2026-10-10): 1, 2, 3, 4. Not affiliated with Facebook and Instagram.