Your Social Media Account Has Been Hacked – Follow These Steps
What can you do if your social media account is hacked? Social media accounts and other online service user accounts are constantly targeted by various hacking attempts. The motives for hacking or seizing an account can include:
- Financial motives (such as stealing linked credit card information or extorting money from the account owner in exchange for account recovery).
- Enabling a larger scam (for instance, contacting the hacked account’s contacts to spread malicious links).
- Harassment.
If you use social media services, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with both your account’s privacy settings and the various ways to protect your account from misuse.
On this page, you’ll also find tips for recovering a hacked or compromised Facebook or Instagram account.
How to Protect Your Social Media Account from Being Hacked
- Use a unique, hard-to-guess password for each service you use. Tips for creating strong passwords from the National Cyber Security Centre
- Enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication. Most social media platforms offer this option. It means that logging in requires confirmation beyond your username and password, such as through a text message, making it harder for outsiders to access your account.
- Ensure that your account has multiple contact methods (phone number, email), as this can make account recovery easier.
- Protect any email accounts linked to your social media accounts in the same manner.
- If you have multiple linked accounts, make sure all of them are thoroughly secured.
- The National Cyber Security Centre’s guidelines page provides links to instructions for two-factor authentication and securing accounts for the most common social media platforms, as well as what to do in case of account hacking.
What to Do If Your Social Media Account Has Been Hacked
- If your account is linked to a credit card, immediately contact your card issuer’s blocking service and cancel the card.
- Try to recover your account. Check the specific platform’s guidelines for hacked accounts and follow their instructions:
- Instagram: If you suspect your Instagram account has been hacked
- Facebook: Facebook.com/hacked
- The National Cyber Security Centre also provides links to instructions for handling hacked accounts on various platforms.
- Consider what personal information might have been compromised through your hacked social media accounts. If you suspect your personal data has been misused, refer to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s guide
for steps to take next. - File a police report. You can also report a security breach to the National Cyber Security Centre.
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