A "Facebook" dead prank left one man unable to log in to his personal account, thanks to a loophole Zuckerberg and company didn't know about. Rusty Foster, 36, learned he was dead last week when he was locked out of his account. Furthermore, he learned anyone could have your account closed using the "Facebook dead" prank.
According to a Jan. 7 MyFox8 report, using the "Memorialization Request" form, just about anyone in the mood for a Facebook prank can submit it online. The only item required is an obituary of the deceased that has the same name.
To show he has a sense of humor about the exploit-slash-loophole, Foster tweeted this Thursday:
"Facebook thinks I'm dead. I'm tempted to just let it," then "Did you know that you can report any of your Facebook friends dead & Facebook will lock them out of their account with no evidence needed?"
In Foster's case, the person purported to be him was born in 1924, making him 87 or 88, depending on his birthday. What's more, the obit listed his home state as something other than Foster's.
Rusty said when he managed to log back into his Facebook account, everything appeared intact, except his friends had a little bit of fun with his status updates:
"The only thing that happened was some of my friends posted little mock-eulogies for me, because word got around that I was locked out, due to a temporary case of death," wrote Foster aka the "Facebook zombie."
Buzzfeed tested the loophole on Facebook with a prank that one of its editors was dead. Using information from an obituary that didn't come close to the targeted person's information, his account was still changed to a "tribute" page by Facebook.
Ironically, while it took Foster 27 days to regain access to his account, it took the folks at Buzzfeed only 24 hours. Imagine that?
Facebook's response to the "dead" prank:
"We try to take all necessary precautions when processing user requests and provide an appeals process for any possible mistake we may make."
Note: Bear in mind that these online pranks could be dangerous and could possibly lead to prosecution if someone is harmed in any manner by the "Facebook dead" prank. Civil or criminal charges could be filed if done maliciously. Just don't do it.
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