Facebook is testing a feature that flags direct messages from fake accounts

Facebook is testing a functionality where the social media company provides users with more information about those who sent a direct message. The intention is to clarify whether the sender is actually a friend of a known account.

A Facebook employee has confirmed to Motherboard that the company is testing this new functionality. Facebook wants to show more context about the people a user has not had contact with before. When and if this will be released to users is unclear.

For the operation of the new functionality, Motherboard refers to a received screenshot showing a direct message. That message is accompanied by a textual explanation that the sender is logged in with a phone with a Russian phone number, that this account was only recently created and that the sender’s account differs from a known, friendly account.

On Monday it was announced that Facebook is also working on WhatsApp to make any fake messages better recognized as such by users. The company will explicitly mark messages that are forwarded via the instant messaging service as such.