Facebook acknowledges bug in SMS notifications

This evening Facebook admits that SMS notifications sent using the company’s two-factor authentication (2FA) system was a result of bug. According to Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos, it was an error which led to send non-security-related SMS notifications to these phone numbers.

Facebook sends a numeric code to mobile devices through the automated number 362-65, or FBOOK for two-factor authentication confirmation of user’s identity. The same number sent messages to users without their consent and when they replied to stop SMS notification, it was posted to their own Facebook profiles as status updates.

As per the company, We expect to have the fixes in place in the coming days. To reiterate, this was not an intentional decision; this was a bug.