Facebook security feature lets you work out if somebody is trying to break into your account

Social media giant it will help users determine whether messages are real or fraudulent

Facebook and other tech giants have faced questions about how their platforms enabled the spread of disinformation, in the wake of Kremlin efforts to disrupt the presidential election (Reuters)

Facebook has introduced a new feature designed to help you identify and protect yourself against fraudulent attempts to steal your data and hijack your account.

The social media giant has started listing every email it has “recently” sent to you within the Settings menu on the site.

Users will be able to work out whether they have legitimately received a message from the company by viewing the new “See recent emails from Facebook” section at the bottom of the Security and Login page.

If the message is fraudulent, it will not appear there.

“Facebookmail.com is a common domain that Facebook uses to send notifications when we detect an attempt to log in to your account or change a password,” the company has explained.

“If you’re unsure if an email you received was from Facebook, you can check its legitimacy by visiting facebook.com/settings to view a list of security-related emails that have been recently sent.”

Cyber criminals are capable of cleverly disguising emails, to make them look like official messages sent by legitimate companies.

They often try to trick you into giving out your personal details, including login information. Others will try and lead you to malicious websites which infect your computer with malware, that can help them steal your personal data. These attacks are known as “phishing” attempts.

If you believe you have been sent a scam email claiming to be from Facebook, you can report it to phish@facebook.com.

If you think your account has been compromised due to a phishing attempt, Facebook says you should visit facebook.com/hacked.