Facebook account hacked? Here’s how to report and recover your compromised FB account | 91mobiles.com

Getting your social media profiles hacked can be a devastating situation to be in. Once hackers get access to your personal information the consequences can be very unfortunate. With Facebook being a widely popular social platform, it is highly prone to hacks and account attacks. If you end up in such a situation, Facebook provides several ways to recover the hacked account as well as various measures in place to prevent your account from falling into the wrong hands. That said, in this guide, we’ll provide you with various methods to get back your Facebook account.

How to tell if your Facebook account is hacked

If you’re very much active on Facebook and interact with friends and close ones on a regular basis then it’s more than likely they will contact you right away if they see something out of place in your account such as spam messages in DMs, irrelevant posts, wrong images and basically anything you would never post on Facebook. Similarly, you may receive alerts through SMS or email stating that your account has been accessed through an unfamiliar location like from a country you don’t reside in. While the hackers may change your account’s password once they get hold of it, if in case the account is accessible from your end, you can check the recent device logins through Facebook settings and swiftly revoke access from there itself.

How to recover hacked Facebook account

There are several ways to recover a hacked Facebook account.

Changing Facebook account password

In case your Facebook account gets compromised, the first and foremost action you should take is to change your password right away. Here’s how to change FB account passwords on mobile and desktop.

Change Facebook account password on mobile

Follow the steps below to quickly change your Facebook password on a mobile phone.

• Open the Facebook app
• Go to the right-most tab and scroll down to find ‘Settings’
• Select it then under the ‘Security’ menu tap on ‘Security and login’
• Now, you’ll find the option to ‘Change password’. Select it
• From here enter your current password and a fresh password to protect your hacked account
• Once done, simply hit ‘Update password’ and you’re done

You’ll be automatically logged out from other devices where you’ve previously signed in be it phones, tablets and PCs.

Change Facebook account password on desktop

Facebook passwords can easily be changed through the desktop website as well. Here’s how.

• Go to facebook.com and log in with your current password, if not signed in already
• Now click on your profile at the top right corner and select ‘Settings & privacy’
• From here, tap on ‘Settings’
• You’ll be redirected to a new page. From the left menu pane select ‘Security & login’
• Under the ‘login’ menu you’ll find the ‘change password’ option. Hit ‘Edit’ button beside it
• Now enter your current password along with the new password
• Once done, click ‘Save changes’

You’ll be logged out of all the devices you’ve signed into after changing the password.

Remove logged-in devices

After changing the password you can double-check whether your Facebook account has been logged out of all the devices. In case of a hack, removing the devices is extremely crucial. Here’s how to do it via the mobile app.

• Open the Facebook app
• Go to the right-most tab and scroll down to find ‘Settings’
• Then under the ‘Security’ menu, you’ll find the ‘Security and login’ option. Tap on it
• Here it’ll show you the devices your account has been logged into
• Simply hit the ‘3-dot’ button and log out from the devices you’re unfamiliar with

Remove suspicious applications

When you log in with Facebook on third-party apps and services, they may acquire your data and even personal information. If you find any app suspicious of handling your data in the wrong way, you can revoke their access to your FB account by going through certain steps.

• Open the Facebook app
• Go to the rightmost tab and scroll down to find ‘Settings’. Select it
• Now under the ‘Security’ menu select the ‘Apps and websites’ option
• From here, simply select the app you want to remove Facebook access
• You can mark the option to delete any activity posted by the app/website on your timeline
• Then finally hit ‘Remove’

How to report to Facebook if your account is hacked

If you feel your account has been hacked, you can contact Facebook support and follow the given instructions and probably get your account back.

• Open the Facebook app
• Go to the rightmost tab and scroll down to find ‘Settings’. Select it
• Scroll down a bit and select ‘Security and login’
• Now make your way to the extreme bottom of the page and tap on the option called ‘If you think your account was hacked’
• Select one of the activities you’re noticing with your account displayers over there
• Accordingly, follow the instructions provided by Facebook

On a desktop, you can go to www.facebook.com/hacked/ to directly open the web page. Just like the mobile version, follow the instructions and you may have a chance to get back your Facebook account.

How to recover hacked Facebook account if you can’t login

Recovering a hacked Facebook account can be really frustrating, especially when your sensitive and personal information is at stake. There are only a number of hopeful ways a person can try to get back their account safely. That said, Facebook provides an identification method through which users may regain access to their accounts. The method involves the following steps.

• Go to www.facebook.com/login/identify from a mobile or PC that was previously logged in to your account before the hack
• Once the URL opens, enter your email or mobile number associated with your FB account
• After that, it’ll prompt you to send a code via email or SMS
• Now copy and enter the code in the box
• Change your password to a strong one that includes several numbers and characters for added security

How to secure your Facebook account from hacking

There’s a saying “prevention is better than cure” and it very well applies to the security of your online accounts and not just to Facebook. That said, the social media giant provides its users with a couple of security features they can take into account to prevent unwanted logins and hacks.

Using two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is a way to add an extra layer of security over your account. When enabled, Facebook will require you to enter a code sent on your SMS or through an authentication app such as Google Authenticator. You’ll have to enter a code along with the password every time you log in to your current device or even try to log in to a new device. The bottom line is, that if a person gets access to your email and password, they’ll still have to go through an additional step to get the authentication code which only you can receive on your phone number, thus further reducing the risk.

Get login alerts

You can enable Facebook login alerts and the platform will notify you either via app notification or email or both when a person tries to access your account from an unfamiliar location or browser. These alerts will push you to instantly change your password and take further measures to prevent any damage to your data on Facebook.

FAQs

1. What precautions can you take to avoid Facebook account hacks?

There are many precautions one can take to protect their Facebook account from hackers and strangers.

A strong password is one that contains a combination of words, numbers as well as characters. It should be hard to decode and not to be related to a person’s personal information such as phone number, date of birth, lucky number, address etc.

• Only log in to correct Facebook website

Don’t fall into the trap of websites that look like the real Facebook website and always ensure the URL contains www.facebook.com with nothing more or less than that. By creating such fake websites, scammers try to obtain your user ID and password and may take undue advantage of it such as posting irrelevant information on the timeline, randomly messaging your contacts etc.

• Log out of Facebook when using others’ devices

Always ensure to log out from the devices you don’t have frequent access to such as PCs in a computer lab, a friend’s desktop or mobile etc. Moreover, you can even remotely log out of other devices from Facebook settings.

• Avoid downloading malicious software

Downloading and installing malicious or illegal software not only puts your internet activity in danger but also serves as a threat to the whole device. Always run routine security scans through antivirus software and keep your web browser up to date to fix any prior security flaws.

• Avoid clicking suspicious links

Came across a post or message with a product deal that seems too good to be true? That’s because there are high chances it’s fake and people behind such posts do not have the right intentions. Such people indulge in fraudulent activities day in and day out. That said, once you’re redirected to a website which resembles an e-commerce retailer such as Amazon or Flipkart, they may prompt you to enter your login details and even bank account details in certain cases. You should simply close the website and report it to Facebook there and then.

2. Can hackers recover your Facebook account?

Once you’ve successfully retrieved your Facebook account from hackers your next priority should be to add additional protection to your account such as enabling two-factor authentication, login alerts, and locking your profile. To avoid strangers randomly peeping into your timeline, enabling profile lock is highly recommended. Furthermore, Facebook also provides account holders a ‘Security Checkup‘ dashboard through which users can identify gaps and loopholes in terms of account protection. Every once in a while, checking up with this dashboard ensures your profile is safe from hacks and unwanted logins.