Facebook to alert users of suspicious accounts on Messenger

Facebook will start providing additional information on unknown accounts sending messages on Messenger.

Facebook is testing a new Messenger feature to help users detect suspicious accounts. (Shutterstock)

Facebook is testing a new feature that will identify malicious accounts sending unwanted direct messages on Messenger.

According to a report by Motherboard, the feature will provide additional information about direct messages from unknown contacts.

"We are testing a way to provide people with more context on folks they may not have connected with previously," Facebook's Messenger team told Motherboard.

The feature was spotted by a user on Messenger who was given a warning about an unknown user sending a message. Information like logging in using a phone number from Russia and also that the account was created recently on Facebook was provided about the sender.

The feature is geared up to fight scams and unsolicited messages from accounts using fake or misleading identities.

Facebook is grappling with privacy issues like the Cambridge Analytica data scandal involving 87 million users and another bug that changed 14 million users' privacy setting defaults to public.

In yet another privacy goof-up, Facebook has admitted that over 800,000 users were affected by a bug on its platform and Messenger that unblocked some people these users had blocked.