Did you get emails recently saying that someone has been changing your Instagram email, phone number and password? Were you kicked out and can’t get back in? Is your account suddenly posting about bitcoin and sending your friends messages on your behalf? Unfortunately, your account is likely been hacked. And I’ve just gone through this with my account and it is the most frustrating thing ever.
Read on to see how I finally got my account back after 4 days!
First – Please warn all your friends and family NOT to click on any links that come from your account. Or NOT to screenshot any texts they might receive from “instagram” and send it through DMs. I don’t know how the hackers can take your account from that, but they can and it is ridiculous.
Next, try to click on the emails that Instagram sent – some will have a link to “revert changes made” or “secure your account”. Unfortunately, this did nothing for me as the hackers changed the email, phone number and username multiple times – just look at all the emails I got
If the hackers changed your username (search for your username and if you can’t find it, try to get a friend to search for you and find what they changed it to). In my case, they added a bunch of underscores before and after. You may have also received an email notification of the change of username.
You will then want to try to login to your instagram. But instead of signing in, click the blue link “get help logging in”. You’ll then want to click “need more help” or “try another way” and it should prompt you to enter your email address to receive a security code. If you still have access to your emails, great! Enter it in and punch in the security code. If not, enter a different email that you can access.
Once you get past the security code, you can choose to enter a recovery code or backup code. If you have yours, enter it here and you should be able to get back in. If you don’t, click on “get support”. This will bring you to a screen with two options depending if you have photos of you in your feed. If you do, it will walk you through a video selfie verification process where you take a quick video for them to verify you are not a bot.
This verification is key! If they verify you, you will receive an email from Facebook with a recovery code. If you do not have photos of yourself, select the second option and it will ask you for an email. Try both if you are unsure!
Hopefully, this is as far as you need to go and you get an email from Facebook shortly after with a recovery code. If so, get back in and update everything! – scroll down to see the key steps to prevent hackers from getting back into your account!
If you get an email saying your video verification was rejected, not to worry – it happens. Try again and submit another verification. Try using a different email, just keep trying. I recommend trying every 3-4 hours, you don’t want to make the same mistake I did with trying so often that Instagram thought I was a bot and locked me out. In that case, I had to wait over a day before I could try anything again.
What if the video verification didn’t work?
There are a few other methods that I have tried as well and have heard that worked for others:
If you have a Facebook business or page that is (was) linked to your instagram, check to see if you can access it from there.
- Go to your meta business suite and click on commerce manager. Try opening a shop. Even without anything in your “store” you should be able to now access a button called “contact facebook support”. Explain all your details and submit an email. I actually was able to get in touch with someone in here and they scheduled a call with me. I just got lucky and was able to receive my recovery code before that call happened.
- you can also try running a $3 or $5 ad or boost a post. While you do have to pay a few dollars for this, this allows you to unlock facebook ad support which gives you a MUCH higher chance to speak to a live person rather than a bot. I was not able to use this feature but apparently after running the ad a button will be available for a live chat with facebook support.
The key here seems to be getting in touch with a live person at facebook or instagram as they will be able to help you get your account back.
Another method I have tried is to have a friend (or you can do this if you have another instagram account), go to your hacked account and click on the 3 dots in the corner. Click “report” and report the page. Enter as many details again telling them you were hacked and you may get a response.
Once you get your code, you are ready to go back in! FINALLY!
but before you do, please read the below – you need to ensure the hackers do not get access again and I have heard many horror stories that the hackers kick people out within minutes of getting their account back.
- make a strong safe password and have it ready!
- once you get in, follow the security checkup steps to change everything
- update password, email and phone number
- turn OFF all 2 step authentication so that the hackers cannot use their codes to get back in
- then turn ON all 2 step authentication again using your information, get new backup codes and make sure you screenshot them
- download the google authenticator app – this makes it even harder for hackers to get in
- in security, click login activity and REMOVE ALL DEVICES THAT ARE NOT YOU! This is where I saw 3 different logins from Nigeria. Remove them asap.
- IMPORTANT! click on settings and scroll down until you see Account center. REMOVE ALL ACCOUNTS THAT ARE NOT YOURS! The hackers may have connected a bunch of accounts and therefore this will allow them access back into your account if you do not remove them.
Finally, for safe measure, I blocked any accounts related to the hackers so that they don’t try to reach out again. Triple checked all security information was changed and then updated my username and bio again back to what I had before.
After you are done updating your information, here’s a few extra things to do:
I then quickly uploaded to my stories to let everyone know what had happened. This also helps let everyone know to be wary of unusual messages from you in case the hackers do get back in.
Then, the long process of going through DMs to let people know that you were hacked and that those messages did not come from you. It was heart breaking to see all the messages they sent on my behalf, pretending to be me and asking for people to “vote for me as an ambassador” and click on links. If you see any of these messages, PLEASE TELL THEM TO CHANGE THEIR PASSWORD AND ADD A TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION ASAP.
I sincerely hope that you get your account back quickly and that these steps have helped you get access back. It was a LONG four days for me and I was so worried more people would get affected by the hackers. Please stay safe and if you haven’t already, add two factor authentication to your account and protect yourself!
