Having your account hacked can be troublesome for both you and your friends, we often tend to panic in these kinds of situations and because of that, we are unable to see the obvious solutions to our problem. So if your account got hacked, relax and follow these tips calmly and patiently to get it back.
I’m well aware that time is of the highest importance in these kinds of situations, but if your rush things out you might make things worse than they already are at this moment, I’ll explain what this means in a second.
How to know if your account is hacked
If you’re absolutely sure that your account is hacked, then you may skip this section. If you are not sure about the state of your account or you just want to stay on the safe side by knowing what’s up, then keep on reading.
In overall, there are about three signs of an account that is hacked.
- Your contacts are receiving messages that you didn’t send.
- Slight changes to your settings and information.
- You’re unable to log in.
1) Your contacts are receiving messages that you didn’t send
2) Slight changes to your settings and information
3) You’re unable to log in
Alright, now that we know if your account is hacked, it’s about time to see how we can get it back.
1) Perform a scan with an Anti-Malware
Before moving on we must make sure that your PC is clean from malware that will interfere with the restoration progress. There is a chance that your account got hacked because of malware in the first place. For example, a keylogger malware will record everything that you type and will send it to the one who installed it, of course, that includes your login credentials.
If the Anti-Malware is not detecting anything, then give it a try with your Antivirus too, just to be on the safe side.
You may also like: Best Free Malware Removal Software 2017 to Remove Virus & Spyware.
2) Check your settings
Make sure that he will not get notified about you changing your password. If you make things right, he shouldn’t know that you changed your password until it’s too late for him to do anything about it. For example, if your account has email forwarding, make sure that it’s not sending notifications to any strange emails and such.
3) Change your password
Make it unpredictable and make sure that you haven’t used it before or that you have the same password for different accounts.
4) Contact support
- You’re unable to log in at all.
- You’re able to log in, but you also want to throw the hacker out.
5) You’re unable to log in at all
For example, if your account is an Instagram one the support might ask you what photos you had taken or who your followers are. If you’re the rightful owner, then you should know the details about the small things and such. But this is just an example; it’s impossible to know exactly what they are going to ask you so be prepared for everything.
In some cases, this can happen if the browser is redirecting you to a fake web page. For example typing in facebook.com is taking you another web page without your consent. Browser Hijacker is a culprit here which you can get rid of using adware remover tools.
Recommended reading: Top 10 Best Free Adware Removal Tools for Windows PC.