Recently, my husband found himself tagged in some spammy advertising videos on Facebook. The reason spammers tag random people is that it makes these videos show up in the Facebook feeds of their friends, broadening the reach of the spam video. It’s possible that you’ve been tagged in these spam videos and they’re turning up in your friend’s Facebook feeds and you know nothing about it.
While these videos claim that a friend has tagged you in the post, most likely that friend had unintentionally permitted a spambot app access to their page and friends list and that bot is doing all of the tagging. Sometimes dozens of videos in a day. How does it happen? You remember those fake contests and quizzes I’m always warning you about? The friend has likely been suckered into it and given the spam program access to their account. Here’s how to untag yourself.
If you’re using a browser, click the drop-down arrow at the top right of the page.
If you’re using a phone, tap on your profile and choose Activity Log.
You’ll see a list of your recent activity.
In your browser, click on Posts you’re tagged in on the left.
On your phone, tap on Category.
Then select Posts you’re tagged in.
As you can see, he was tagged in a string of spammy weight-loss product videos.
To untag yourself in a video, tap the arrow to the right on your phone.
Or click the pencil icon if using a browser.
Choose Report/remove tag.
Choose Spam. (assuming that’s the reason you want to be untagged.)
Mark the post as spam. You can also choose to block and unfriend someone you don’t want as a friend. Keep in mind that if the person is an actual friend, the spamming may not be intentional.
Make sure to untag yourself.
The other possibility is that you may have accidentally allowed an app to post on your timeline by adding a game, taking a quiz, or entering a bogus contest. I’ll show you how to take care of those permissions tomorrow.