I’m a tech expert… here is how to recover a hacked Facebook account
Dear Kim,
Recently, my personal Facebook account was hacked, resulting in changes to my login information, along with the email address and phone number associated with the account. I have been locked out of my profile.
Over the past sixteen years, my Facebook account has become a digital scrapbook of cherished memories, a repository of moments shared with friends and family.
It has also served as a vital link to numerous contacts, both personal and professional, and played an important role in my daily communications and connections.
This situation makes me feel helpless and disconnected from a significant part of my digital life.
I am writing to ask for your advice on how I can proceed with recovering my Facebook account.
Thank you for considering my predicament. Your expertise in these matters is second to none, and any assistance you could provide would be of immense help.
– Benjamin in Huntsville, Alabama
Dear Kim: My personal Facebook account was recently hacked, resulting in changes to my login information, along with the email address and phone number associated with the account. I have been locked out of my profile
Hello Benjamin,
Firstly, you are not the only one to fall victim to Facebook account hijacking.
Facebook is a big target for hackers and scammers. Think about this: Facebook has 2.989 billion monthly active users worldwide. In other words, approximately 37.2 percent of the world’s population uses Facebook every month.
Your first step: Go to Facebook.com/Hacked and alert Facebook that your account has been hacked.
You must enter your email address or phone number associated with the account.
Make sure you provide all the information they ask for. The point here is to prove that you are the rightful owner of the account.
Radio host Kim Komando offers advice to help people navigate the world of technology
Then contact your friends. Of course, you have to do this outside of Facebook. Tell them that your account has been hacked and ask them to do you a big favor.
You also want them to report to Facebook that your account has been hacked.
They can do this by going to your profile, then selecting More or a three-dot menu, then finding support or reporting a profile.
The whole idea here is: the higher the number of notifications Facebook gets, the more likely you are to get back in.
You might be tempted by the online ads claiming they can get your Facebook account login details back – that’s a scam, so don’t fall for it.
Once you report that your Facebook account has been hacked, you have to wait.
It may take weeks or months before you hear anything. In the meantime, open a new Facebook account and lock all your other social media accounts. Everyone needs their own unique password and you can set up two-factor authentication where possible.
Hello Kim,
My wife went on a trip to South America. She was standing on the street, grabbing her phone to find directions when a child on a bicycle zoomed past and grabbed the phone from her hand.
She screamed (quite loudly!) but obviously didn’t get the phone back.
I immediately called the service provider and they blacklisted the phone.
They said the phone has stopped working now but we are seeing strange activity due to all the apps and connected accounts.
What the hell am I supposed to do? I want to help her so she can enjoy her journey! By the way, I did report it to the police.
– David in St. Louis, Missouri
Dear David,
You are a good husband to write to me‚ and you were smart to call the service provider.
Unfortunately, there is still a lot we need to take care of. Just think about it: a large part of our digital lives takes place in our phones. They are worth much more than the cost of replacement.
Of course, the kicker here is that your wife’s phone was unlocked because this idiot grabbed it while it was in use. That was certainly not an accident. More about that below. By the way, travel insurance can cover the costs of stolen electronics.
Dear Kim: My wife went on a trip to South America. She was standing on the street, grabbing her phone to find directions when a child on a bicycle zoomed past and grabbed the phone from her hand.
Here’s a to-do list. Fast? No, sorry, but these steps are necessary. Don’t worry, I’ll include directions for everything too.
● If possible, wipe the phone’s data remotely.
● Call your bank and other connected financial account and tell them about the theft.
● Change every password associated with the phone, starting with her Google account and email address.
● Exchange the two-factor authentication number associated with her accounts.
● Institute a credit freeze.
● Consider a burner phone for the next trip.
Let’s get into the details
It’s great that you can wipe everything from a newer iPhone or Android remotely. The caveat is that you have to set this up in advance, before you have to do it.
Turn on Find My for an iPhone
● Go to Settings > [your name] > Find my.
● Consider whether you want friends and family to know where you are. Then enable ‘Share my location’.
● Tap Find My iPhone and turn on Find My iPhone.
● To see your device even when it is offline, turn on Find My Network.
● If you want your device’s location to be sent to Apple when the battery is low, turn on Send Last Location.
Turn on Find My Device for Android
● Go to Settings > Security > Find My Device. Or try Security & location or Google > Security.
● Make sure Find My Device is turned on.
While you are in the settings, take a moment to document your phone’s fingerprint. Like any product, your phone has a serial number.
It also has an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity). Although the serial number comes from the manufacturer, IMEI numbers are standard across the industry.
Keep these numbers in case you need to report your phone theft or loss.
When you find the IMEI number of your phone, take a screenshot of it.
Then save that screenshot somewhere where you can access it if necessary. I keep mine in my photo cloud storage account. You can also print it and keep it in the original box of the phone or in another convenient offline place.
● iPhone: Go to Settings > General > About.
● Android: Go to Settings > About phone.
If you had set up Find My in advance…
If the phone is permanently lost, you will need to remotely wipe the data stored on it to ensure that no one else can access it. This step is a last resort and be prepared to lose data that was only synced to the phone and not to the cloud.
Erase your iPhone remotely
● From another Apple device, open the Find My app, tap Devices, and then tap your phone.
○ Tap Erase this device to remotely erase its data.
● Or log in to iCloud.com/find and go to the ‘Find iPhone’ function.
○ Select your lost phone and then select Erase iPhone.
● Use a family member’s device to erase your phone if Family Sharing is turned on. You’ll see it listed in their Find My app.
Remotely erase your Android phone
● On another Android device, open the Find My Device app and tap Continue As [your name]. Select your lost phone and you will get information about its location.
○ When prompted, select Enable lock and wipe.
○ Select Erase device to erase its data.
● Or go to android.com/find and sign in to your Google account. Select your lost phone and you will get information about its location.
○ When prompted, select Enable lock and wipe.
○ Select Erase device to erase its data.
It sounds like your wife unfortunately didn’t set this up in advance, David. That’s why resetting all those passwords and 2FA settings is involved.
It’s best to set up Google Authenticator on her new phone. This way she can get 2FA codes in that app and not via text message. It is safer than relying on SMS. I have a full primer here if you need help setting it up.