What to do if your Facebook Account has been Hacked

No doubt, Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms. It is little wonder there has been a lot of focus on this platform by hackers.

Sadly, most of these hackers target fairly old accounts. Imagine the pain of losing a Facebook account you have passionately built for over 5 years and more. All gone in a flash.

Beyond the pain of losing out on so much data, your reputation is on the line. Most hackers have ulterior motives for hacking into your account, and they would stop at nothing to see the havoc caused. 

Havocs like scamming close people to you of their hard-earned money, sending naughty pictures and videos that could tarnish your image, and creating another identity different from who you are. 

Scary?

This is why you need to be armed with the correct information. 

In this post, I will share every available option for you should your Facebook account get hacked. 

But first, how do you know when your Facebook Account has been hacked?

How do you notice when your Facebook Account has been hacked?

You notice unauthorized activities. 

It could be your friends or followers getting messages that look like scams, posts that you did not make on your wall, comments on posts that did not come from you, or friend requests to people you don’t know. 

When you can no longer log in to your account because your email address and password have been changed, this is a strong indication that your account has been hacked.

You notice unrecognized devices in your login history. It means someone has gained access to your account.

There is missing or altered information. You checked your profile and noticed some information needs to be included. It could be your name, contact information, or birthday. Most hackers do this to make it more challenging to regain your account. 

Suspicious Apps or Plugins have been integrated. They connect these apps to gain full access to your account. 

Once you begin to receive unsolicited emails and notifications from Facebook, mainly to click on certain links, there is a dangerous attempt on your account.

If your privacy settings have been tampered with without your consent, someone has accessed your account and altered those settings. 

Account Deactivation. They could go as far as suddenly deactivating your account. 

Once you notice all of these, your account has been hacked or is about to be.  

What, then, should you do when your account has been hacked? 

It’s in two phases. 

Your account has been hacked, but you still have access

Your account has been hacked, and it has been completely hijacked from you

Let’s look at what you can do in both instances

What do you do if you still can access your hacked Facebook account?

1. Change your password. That’s the first way to kick out the hackers. Change the password to a stronger and unique one. 

It should not be related to anything you have used before. 

Include a combination of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters. Something like BGw5%tyn9-uV

2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication. Don’t just stop at changing the passwords. Set up two-factor authentication. When you enable this, a verification code will be required when logging in from unfamiliar devices or locations. 

3. Remove Suspicious Apps and Devices. 

Visit your Facebook settings. Settings and Privacy > Your Activity > Apps and Websites; there, it will show you the apps and websites that are actively connected. 

Also, you can check “Business Integrations” to confirm any strange integration. 

4. Report to Facebook. Facebook has reporting tools that you can use to report any hack and also provide necessary information about the incident. 

You can check out the “Help and Support” feature. There, you will see “report a problem”. You can easily navigate your way through that. Alternatively, you can report through this link.

What to Do if You Have Been Completely Logged Out?

Start by checking all the devices you have once logged in. There might be a ray of hope that the hacker did not log out of all devices.

In that case, you can recover your account with that. You can change the password from there. 

However, if you have been logged out of all devices, you can visit facebook.com/login/identify. 

Once the page is opened, you must enter the phone number or email address you used to create the account. 

Alternatively, you can paste your Facebook profile URL. Then, click on “search”. 

It will display all Facebook accounts that match your search. Once you see your account, click on it.

The next thing is to Change your Email Address. You will see the phone number and email addresses that are connected to it. 

There is every tendency that they are not yours. In the account recovery process, indicate that you can no longer access the phone number and email address. 

From there, Facebook begins the email address-changing process. 

Also, you can click on https://www.facebook.com/hacked/

Once you can access the account, proceed to reset your password immediately. 

Now that you have your account back, Congratulations. 

However, ensure you put other measures we have earlier discussed in place, such as;

• Two-factor authentication
• Removing unfamiliar apps and integrations
• Using a stronger password
• Add a backup email address to recover your account quickly. 

Conclusion

Like the popular saying, “Better safe than sorry.” Facebook Hacking is real, and it happens now and then. 

It’s best to tighten your account’s security from the onset. 

Monitor any strange activity, and once you notice any, act fast. 

When you get strange notifications, work with all the information I have shared to ensure they do not successfully gain entrance. 

Be Safe out there!