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Whether your Facebook account has been hacked or you just forgot your password, Meta will rarely offer you any information about it. So, if you suspect your Facebook password has been leaked or your account has been compromised, act fast. Facebook hackers can lock you out of your account and annoy your friends and family.
Secure your Facebook account now and get it back in your “possession” before it’s too late. In the following paragraphs, we’ll explain you how.
How to Tell if Your Facebook Account Has Been Hacked
First things first. You can tell that your Facebook account has been hacked if you notice one of the following signs:
- You can no longer log in with your username and password.
- A password reset email appears in your inbox, but you’re unable to start the reset.
These are the most noticeable signs that something is wrong, but there are also more subtle ones. If a Facebook hacker gets into your account, they’ll leave a trail.
- Check Your Login Sessions
Is someone logged in to your account from a location or device you’re not familiar with?
Log in to your Facebook account and click on your profile picture to open the menu. From that menu select Settings & Privacy > Settings and open Accounts Center from the left bar. Then again, from the left menu, select Password and security, and under Security checks, you’ll see the option Where you are logged in. Select your account there. You can now view a comprehensive list of devices you’ve recently logged into your Facebook account from and when they were active. You can select each one individually or all at once to check them out. Be sure to change your password before removing the suspicious login.
Other signs that your account may have been hacked include:
- that your personal information, including your password, email address, phone number, or name has been changed by a third party. Within the Accounts Center, go to Personal Details and expand the Contact Information option. Here you can see all emails and phone numbers associated with your account.
- that friend requests and private messages have been sent from your account without your knowledge. From your account menu (click on your profile picture), select Settings & Privacy > Activity log, and review all actions recorded here.
- that your profile contains posts that you haven’t added or approved.
If you notice any suspicious activity when logging in, or you’ve noticed one or more of the signs listed, below you’ll find what to do.
What to do if your Facebook account is hacked? If you have confirmed that your account has been hacked, follow these steps…
Change Your Password on Facebook
In case the hacker didn’t change your password, you’re in luck. Update your password immediately before logging out of suspicious sessions. If it’s too late though, move on to the next step, which is explained below the next subtitle.
Until then, to change your password from your computer or mobile device, go to Accounts Center, select Password & Security, then select Change Password. Select your account, enter your current password, set a new strong password, and click Change Password. After successfully changing the password, the Sign out from other devices? window will appear. Log out of all suspicious sessions and click Sign Out. We recommend opting out completely, provided your contact details and security settings are up to date. If you’re not sure, manually log out of any recent sessions that look suspicious.
If you still think your account has been hacked or compromised, continue with step 3 (discussed later).
Reset Your Facebook Password
If a hacker has changed your password and you need to regain access to your Facebook account, act fast. Try to regain access using the link Forgot your password? below the Facebook login.
This will allow you to recover your password in several ways. First, you’ll need to find your account. You can enter the email address you used when you signed up for Facebook or any other secondary email address you added, as well as your phone number. If Facebook can find your account, you can choose how to reset your password.
Note: If the hacker has changed your email address, you should receive a message at the original email address. Look for that message because it contains a special link that will allow you to undo the change and secure your account.
In our case, while doing the steps we suggest, Facebook offered to send a recovery code to any email address we added to our account. We strongly recommend that you provide multiple backup email addresses (if you have them).
Use the Try another way link if you no longer have access to any of the offered email accounts. Facebook will offer to send a code to the phone numbers associated with your account. If none of those numbers are valid or you don’t have access to them, it’s almost impossible to recover your account.
If you believe that a hacker who has access to your Facebook account is abusing your information, proceed to step 2.
- Report Facebook Hacking
If your account isn’t only hacked but is sending ads and spam to your friends, you must report it to Facebook as compromised via Facebook.com/hacked/.
You can also use this in case you have lost access to your account due to a phishing attack. Facebook will help you regain access to your account.
- Remove Suspicious Apps
More often than not, it’s not the person who just randomly hacked your account. You may have given access to a malicious Facebook app that then took over your account.
To remove suspicious apps, go to Settings > Apps & Websites and review the list. Click Show more to expand the list of active apps and websites and click Remove for each suspicious app individually. We also recommend removing all expired apps and websites.
Alternatively, click the View and edit button and change the app’s permissions, which include options like the app’s visibility, access to your personal information, and the actions it can take.
- Do “Damage Control”
Once you’ve done everything you can to regain control of your hacked Facebook account and prevent further damage, let your friends and family know what’s going on.
This is a preventative step in case a hacker has used your account to contact people. If you’re currently unable to access your account, contact your Facebook friends through other social networks, email, or phone, or have a mutual friend notify you via Facebook.
How to Keep Your Facebook Account Safe?
Having a hacked user account is a painful experience. Not just on Facebook but on any Internet service, especially while using services that require more than just personal details but also, say, credit card data. However, online services that gather your financial-related info are normally secured against any possible theft or severe attack, given that once they’re hacked, they’ll run out of business and people will refuse to use such services. For instance, online casinos in SL pay utmost attention to the security of your account. Or e-commerce websites, etc.
However, it’s also a learning opportunity. After setting a strong password, enabling two-factor authentication, and updating all of your information, your Facebook account will be protected from being hacked again.
Apply the lessons learned to your other social media accounts.
