Having a Facebook account hacked is a nightmare for almost all Facebook users. Although Facebook has worked a lot to keep its users secure there are still many ways a hacker can hack your Facebook account.
Once you get your Facebook account hacked, the hacker can read all the private messages – the conversations you're made with your friends, those business talks with your colleagues, and those sweet and romantic conversations with your soulmate! The hacker can also view and download all your private photos and delete all your personal information and even your Facebook account. Basically, he will have full control of your Facebook account.
And as scary as that gets they can also contact your Facebook friends and abuse them in many ways. Moreover, if you run a Facebook page then he can post any malicious links on your page and even delete your entire Page. So yeah, the damage is quite severe.
But you can prevent yourself from getting your Facebook account hacked by following these 10 security measures to increase your Facebook security.
However, if your Facebook account has already been hacked then there are still ways to retrieve it. But you must act fast.
3 Different Case of Facebook Account Hacked
Once the hacker hacks your Facebook account these are the 3 possible scenarios :
CASE 1 – The hacker might secretly be accessing your account but without your knowledge. Maybe he has been reading your conversations all these times but didn’t post anything to stay hidden.
If this is the case, then there’s a feature on Facebook that lets you see if someone else is accessing your Facebook account.
1. Go to the Facebook Setting page and click on the Security Tab.
2. Click on “Where You’re logged in” and there you can see active sessions (currently logged in) and previous section (where you logged in previously). If you see sessions from browsers or places you haven’t logged into then your account has been hacked.
You can select individual Devices and end the activity by clicking on “End Activity” or you can click “End All Activity” to log out from all the devices.
Once you know that your Facebook account is being used by someone else, you can simply change your password. But sometimes, that won’t be enough. Because the hacker might have your email password or say access to your mobile phone and will easily get your Facebook password even after you change it.
Here are 10 security measures you can follow to prevent yourself from getting your Facebook account hacked again.
CASE 2 – The hacker Changed your password.
If the hacker has hacked your account and changed the password then you can still retrieve your Facebook account. If you have done your homework and already secured your account, then there’s no need to worry. And by homework I mean, if you have registered your mobile phone, activated the Trusted Friend Feature, Facebook Security Questions, etc.
Reset Facebook Password with Mobile/Email address:
You can reset your Facebook password through your email or mobile phone. Facebook will send you a code through which you can set a new password for your account. To do that
a. Go to Facebook.com and click on “Forgot your password?”
b. Now, you need to identify your Facebook account. Enter your email address or phone number (if you have registered your phone) and click Search.
c. Once Facebook Identifies your account, choose the method by which you would like to reset your password (email/google account or phone) and click Continue.
d. Now, Facebook will send you the 6 digit code either by email or phone as per your choice. Enter the code and click continue.
After that, you’ll be able to set your new password.
CASE 3 – The hacker not only changed your password but your email and phone number.
This is the worst case of all. If the hacker has changed your email and mobile number then you won’t be able to reset the password. So what shall we do now?
If you haven’t done your homework to secure your account then you may not be able to retrieve your account. However, if you have set up Trusted account previously or added a security question then don’t worry, there are still ways to gain your account back.
a. Go to Facebook.com and click on “Forgot your password?”
b. Now, you need to identify your Facebook account. Enter your email address or phone number (if you have registered your phone) and click Search.
c. Unlike the above method, we cannot choose the email address to reset the password because the hacker has already changed the email address to his email. So, click on “No longer have access to these?”
d. Enter your email address or a phone number and click on continue. You can enter any email or phone that you have access to.
Now there are two different ways from this step.
1. If you have set up a Trusted account
If you have set up Trusted Contacts previously then your trusted friends will receive a code through which you can regain your hacked Facebook account.
Tell your Trusted Contacts to visit https://www.facebook.com/recover. They’ll find a code there. Ask them for the code and enter the code. After that, you can set a new password for your account.
2. If you haven’t set up Trusted Contacts:
If you haven’t set up Trusted Contacts or maybe the hacker removed your trust Contacts then you’ll need to answer the security question to regain your hacked Facebook account.
Just enter the correct security answer and click continue and then you’ll be able to set a new password for your Facebook account.
If you don’t remember your security answer then no luck! All you can do is report facebook that your account has been hacked. You can report from here.
Conclusion
I hope at least one of the above steps helped you to retrieve your hacked Facebook account. Now you should inform your friends about what happened, just in case, the hacker has abused or currently is abusing your account.
If you were unable to retrieve your account, contact your Facebook friends through other social networks, by email, or have a mutual friend inform them via Facebook.
To keep your account secure and prevent yourself from getting hacked there are many features on Facebook that you can use. Find out how
Sometimes, it may not be a person to hack your account but an evil app. Maybe you have used an app that has full access to your profile.
To find out any suspicious applications go to the Facebook Setting page and click on Security Tab. Choose the Apps tab and go through the list.
If you find any suspicious apps click the “X” next to it to remove.
Or alternately you can edit the setting and choose what information you provide to the app.
Learn also why can't I log into Facebook on my phone
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