How to recover a hacked Instagram Account
Did your account get hacked recently? Are you looking for a way to recover your lost Instagram account? Don’t panic. There’s a way to recover a hacked Instagram account if you act fast!
As more people take to the internet for financial gain, personal interest, information collection and even for fun or simply to connect with people all over the world, there is also an increase in cybercrime. As with several other social media platforms, Instagram is not left out of this. There is a rise in the number of Instagram accounts being hacked daily and most persons are now on the lookout for ways on how to recover their hacked Instagram account.
How do Instagram accounts get hacked? Hackers devise several new and intelligent ways to hack accounts daily. It is important to identify how hackers get hold of Instagram accounts. Here are the three most common methods hackers use these days.
- Presumption – Also known as guessing, this is the most common way hackers make use of. They try to guess your password and keep at it until they get it. This method is easily avoided by using a strong password that is difficult to guess. Also, enabling two-factor authentication or verification on your Instagram account will help secure your Instagram account from being hacked.
- Phishing links – A phishing link is a link that can be used to steal your important information such as your login details. This is the easiest hack method to fall for because you might not be able to identify phishing links at a glance. To avoid this, try not to click links on Instagram from accounts you do not trust.
- Wifi-sniffing – A hacker using the same free network of wifi with you can easily sniff into your Instagram activities, send you a fake log out notification and prompt you to log back in. Once you follow the prompting, they steal your password and hack your account. To prevent this, stay away from free wifi or networks, particularly in public places.
If you do not deliberately adhere to security tips on securing your Instagram account, it is vulnerable and prone to hacking. What happens when your Instagram account gets hacked? There are many devastating effects! A hacker might decide to use your account for fraudulent activities such as financial crimes, thereby ruining your reputation or worse still, plunging you into debts! They become in total control of your chats and could do things that could question your integrity on your behalf.
It’s normally very disheartening to watch your account you’ve spent weeks, months or even years building fall into the hands of hackers. Can a hacked Instagram account be recovered? Yes! But you have to act fast. However, it is worthy of note that if you have several million Instagram followers or a small number of followers (say fifty for example), it’s often very difficult to recover your hacked account. Here are some steps you could take as soon as your Instagram account gets hacked.
Early detection
If you linked your Instagram account with your email, Instagram normally sends email notifications if someone tries to change your Instagram password. Once you receive a notification that your password has been changed, then you have to act swiftly. Try to login via the Instagram app or through a browser and click on ‘forgot password’ or ‘get help logging in’ on the login page. Then type in the email or the phone number you want the recovery code sent to. Once you click on the recovery mail, you will receive a prompt to create a new password. Create a stronger password that is impossible to guess (combine letters, numbers and symbols). This method can only work when you still have access to your Instagram account.
Report Immediately
In the event where you are unable to recover your account via recovery mail, there’s still one more chance for you to recover your hacked Instagram account. Although, I must warn you that this method can become frustrating as Instagram help centre seems to take forever to resolve issues. Here are the steps to follow to report a hacked account to Instagram.
Open the Instagram app on your android or iOS and go to the login page. Tap on ‘get help signing in’ or ‘forgot password?’
Input your username, email address, or phone number and tap Next.Tap ‘Need more help?’ and follow the on-screen instructions.
As part of this process, you will need to send a photo of yourself holding a security code to verify your identity.
Final note
All these hassles can be prevented by securing your account. If you haven’t enabled two-factor verification on your account, then do it now!
Feel free to leave a comment. Ask questions if you need more clarification. I’m always glad to help.