The struggle of thousands of Facebook users whose accounts have been stolen outside of major breaches is rarely reported in the media. Facebook provides little beyond a wall of quiet. Are you certain that your account has not been hacked?
If you think that your Facebook password was compromised or that your account was compromised, you must act immediately. Hackers could shut you out of your Facebook account and harass your friends. Secure your Facebook account immediately and regain access to it before it’s too late. We’ll show you how.
How to Know Whether Your Facebook Account Was Hacked
How can you determine if your Facebook account has been compromised? If a Facebook hacker gains access to your account, they will leave behind evidence.
To check for traces, log in to your Facebook account and expand the Account menu by clicking the arrowhead in the top right corner. From the Settings & privacy menu, select Settings and then Security & Login.
At the very top, you’ll find a list of devices from which you’ve logged into your Facebook account most recently, along with the dates they were active.
Facebook Security and Login Settings provides a list of the last-used devices.
Other indications that your account could have been compromised include:
- A third party altered your personal information, including your password, email address, phone number, and name. Check your complete Contact information in Settings > General by clicking the respective field to enlarge it. Under Settings > Mobile, you may view all phone numbers associated with your account.
- Without your knowledge, friend requests and private messages were issued from your account. Navigate to Your Facebook Information > Access Your Information inside Settings and peruse the various facts there.
- Your timeline contains posts you didn’t add or permit. To see your timeline, click your profile picture in the top right or, if you can’t see it there, click the hamburger menu icon, then you should see your picture in the top left.
If you’re using Facebook to connect into other programs, such as Spotify or Instagram, we highly advise you to change the corresponding login credentials or increase your Facebook security to protect these third-party accounts.
If you see any unusual login activity or have noticed one or more of these other signals, you will discover the necessary steps below…
What to Do If Your Facebook Account Was Hacked
If you have confirmed that your account has been compromised, here are the steps you should follow…
1a. Change Your Facebook Password
If your Facebook password has not been changed by a hacker, you’re in luck! Before you log out of suspicious sessions, update your password immediately (you don’t want to inform the hacker). If it’s already too late, proceed to step 1b.
Under Settings > Security and Login, click Change password next to Login. Enter your current password, create a new, strong password, then click Save Changes to apply the modifications.
You should then be presented with a Password Changed confirmation popup that allows you to Review other devices or Remain logged in. Select the first option and click Continue. In my instance, this didn’t accomplish anything, but it’s wonderful to be reminded.
Log Out of Facebook Sessions
After updating your password, return to Where You’re Logged In by scrolling back up. After extending the list, either Log Out of individual sessions by selecting the three vertical dots or click the Log Out Of All Sessions option at the bottom-right.
Only do this if you are certain you can log back in.
If your contact information and security settings are current, we recommend logging out entirely. You do not want to compromise your ability to log back in. If uncertain, manually log out of any recent sessions that appear suspect.
Secure Your Account
Additionally, you have the option to flag specific sessions as Not You. This will display session details in a pop-up window.
If you don’t recognize the location, device, or last activity, click Secure Account. Click Get Started to initiate an automated, step-by-step account security process.
The subsequent screen provides a summary of the process’s steps. Continue by clicking Continue.
When finished, you will be returned to your feed. If you continue to suspect that your account has been compromised, continue to Step 3.
1b. Reset Your Facebook Password
If the hacker changed your Facebook password and you need to regain access to your account, you must act swiftly. Attempt to regain entry. Below the Facebook login is a link titled “Forgot your password?”
This allows you to recover your password in multiple ways. First, you must locate Your Account. You may enter the email address you used to register for Facebook, any additional email addresses you added, and your phone number.
If Facebook is able to locate your account, you have the option to Reset Your Password.
If the hacker altered your email address, you should have gotten a notification to the old address. This message contains a secret link that will allow you to undo the modification and secure your account.
Facebook offered to send a recovery code to any of the email addresses I have associated with my account. We strongly suggest that you provide many other email addresses. Remember that you must keep these accounts equally secure, preferably by implementing two-factor authentication on your email accounts.
If this is the case, use the No longer have access to these? link. Facebook will request your contact information to confirm your identity. This may take some time.
If you suspect that the Facebook hacker with access to your account has abused it, go to step 2.
2. Report the Facebook Hack
If your account was not just hacked, but is also sending advertisements and spam to your friends, you must report it as compromised to Facebook at Facebook.com/hacked/.
You can also utilize this if a phishing attack caused you to lose access to your account. Facebook will assist you with regaining account access.
3. Remove Suspicious Applications
Frequently, it is not a malicious person who randomly hijacked your account. You may have just granted permission to a rogue Facebook program, which then took control of your account.
Go to Settings > Apps and Websites and peruse the list to uninstall questionable applications. Click See More to expand the list of Active apps and websites, place a checkmark next to the apps or websites you wish to remove, click the Remove button in the top-right corner, and confirm if you also wish to “delete posts, photographs, or events put on your timeline” from these sources.
We also suggest eliminating expired applications and websites.
Alternately, you can select the View and Edit link to modify the app’s rights, which include app visibility, access to your personal information, and actions it can perform.
4. Do Damage Control
After regaining control of your hacked Facebook account and averting additional damage, you should inform your friends and family of the situation.
This is a safeguard in the event that the hacker has used your account to communicate with others. If you are unable to access your account at the moment, notify your Facebook friends via other social networks, email, or have a common friend inform them via Facebook.
Improving Facebook’s Privacy and Security Settings
Once you’re back in control, we highly recommend that you review your Facebook settings.
- Under Settings > General, update your contact details, and add additional email addresses or mobile phone numbers that you have access to. Likewise, remove those you no longer have access to.
- Head to Settings > Security and Login to set up extra security measures, including alerts about unrecognized logins, two-factor authentication, and choose three to five trusted friends who can help you to recover your account should you get locked out.
- Under Settings > Privacy, choose the privacy settings you’re comfortable with. We recommend letting only friends see your future posts and retroactively limiting the visibility of past posts.
Two-factor authentication is the most crucial security feature you can set on any of your accounts. We recommend that you enable two-factor authentication on any social media accounts that support it. Facebook supports both Microsoft Authenticator and Google Authenticator.
How Do You Safeguard Your Facebook Account?
Once you have been hacked, you are compelled to recognize your errors. Hopefully, you will never make these mistakes again.
Now is the moment to discover how hackers might invade your privacy and how to defend yourself. Hackers are constantly developing, thus your knowledge of their techniques must also evolve.