7 Steps to Take When Your Facebook Account is Hacked
There’s nothing worse than realizing that your Facebook account has been hacked. If you’re not careful about the security of your account, hackers can gain access to private messages, personal photos, and even financial information like credit card numbers and bank accounts. Once you notice something’s wrong, you need to take action quickly to restore your social media account before the damage gets out of hand. Here are seven steps to follow if your Facebook account is hacked.
1) Delete the offending post
If you think you have been hacked, please change your password right away and review the activity associated with your account. If necessary, suspend your account so no one else can log in. Also, reach out to Facebook right away via their Help Center or find someone in your network that is still friends with you and report the problem to them (they can act as a trusted connection).
2) Review all posts from the past month
- Reach out to Facebook and have your account restored:
Step 1 – Go to the Facebook page for reporting hacked or compromised accounts. Scroll down and click on Report a Problem. Enter the email you used for your Facebook account, your name, the password for your account, and the reason why you are reporting it as a problem. You may also enter additional details here in case they’re relevant, such as what you think happened or what information was lost. Click Next Step when finished.
Step 2 – Select Contact Person/Company Name and Phone Number if applicable, then click Next Step.
Step 3 – Type in an optional short description of what happened (such as how it occurred), then click Next Step again.
3) Turn on two-factor authentication
One of the worst days of your life could be your Facebook account being hacked. Here are some steps to take if you find yourself in this situation:
- If possible, change your password as soon as you find out that someone is accessing your account. This will help prevent future hacking attempts and will let Facebook know that they need to investigate what’s going on.
- Go back through all of the posts made on your account and delete them if they contain any personal information (this includes anything like passwords, or credit card numbers). You may want to log out from Facebook entirely until you’re sure it is secure again, so other people can’t access the post.
4) Change passwords
If you’ve realized that your Facebook account is hacked, don’t panic. The first thing you should do is assess the damage by looking at your posts, tags, and status updates for suspicious activity. If you find any, change all of your passwords ASAP. You can also report a fake account that has been created using your likeness with Facebook’s online form found here.
5) Report suspicious activity
There are several steps you can take if your Facebook account is hacked. First, log out of Facebook and don’t sign back in. Now, delete your browser’s cookies for Facebook. Clear cache and clear history on all devices that have access to your account (including mobile).
Change your password and update security settings by limiting the information shared with third-party apps. You should also contact our friendly Facebook customer service team by clicking here or on the help icon in the top right corner of any Facebook page. Lastly, use two-factor authentication on any social media sites you frequent–it’s a good way to beef up security!
6) Log out of other devices
If you’re looking for a way to recover your Facebook account that’s been hacked, the first thing you should do is log out of all devices and make sure none of them are showing an open session with Facebook. If they are, you’ll need to close those sessions and disconnect from Facebook on those devices. The last thing you want is for your hacker to have control over other connected devices or data.
You also want it easier for yourself in the future when logging back into Facebook by deleting any saved passwords on your accounts and browsers where it’s possible. Make sure this is something you do after logging out of Facebook and not before, because if someone has access to your device when doing this then they will have access again when it expires.
7) Check connected apps, games, etc.
- Check Connected Apps, Games, etc. You may have linked your Facebook account with other apps and games that you have given the app access to, or maybe your phone is syncing your Facebook account with photos or location data that can be hacked into. Be sure to check all of these applications because they could be the cause of a hack on your Facebook account,
- especially if any messages seem as though they are coming from you. If some apps or games don’t need access to your Facebook account any longer, disconnect them from the social media site immediately. And never permit an app to connect with other apps without reading reviews first!
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