Has Your Facebook Been Hacked? How to Tell (And Fix It)
Learn how to tell if your Facebook account has been hacked, what to do if it has, and how to keep your Facebook account from being hacked in the future.
It’s not fun to log into Facebook and discover that your account has been hacked. But it does happen, and the consequences can be severe for you and your friends and family.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to keep your Facebook account from being hacked. And if it has been hacked, there are steps you can take to resolve the issue. Here’s how to accomplish both of these tasks.
How to Identify If Your Facebook Account Was Hacked
Normally, the hack is self-evident. Your profile could begin posting promotions on your companions’ walls empowering them to pay a couple of imitation Ray-Bans, or something almost identical. Your hacked Facebook record could likewise send undesirable messages, change your profile data, or even change your email address and secret word. These are awful situations and things you’ll need to stay away from.
Fortunately, there’s a simple method for finding whether another person has signed into your Facebook account.
Go to Settings and Privacy > Settings > Security and login > Where You’re Logged In and click See More. The data contained in the segment will show where you’ve signed in and with what gadgets you endorsed in with.
Keep in mind: If your secret word has been changed by a programmer, you want to act rapidly to recuperate your Facebook account.
The Fix: If you truly do track down a disparity with where you’ve signed in to Facebook, you can undoubtedly end the movement of that meeting, which ought to assist with shielding you from any hacking endeavor on that gadget.
Check Your Payment History on Facebook
Another way to determine whether someone has hacked your Facebook account is to look at your purchase history. If you have a credit card linked to your account, hackers may use it to make fraudulent purchases, increasing your bill.
To make sure you’re safe, go to Settings and Privacy > Settings > Facebook Pay, and look for your payment activity, which should be visible. In the same section, you can also view your Ads Manager payment history.
The Solution: If you notice any fraudulent charges, you can report them to Facebook via this page. The company is fairly good at responding to complaints, whether through its official Facebook account or its official Twitter account.
How to Inform Facebook of Hack Attempts
If you have any issues with hacking, you should notify Facebook. Facebook is interested in learning about hacking attempts and wants to do everything it can to keep the site as safe and secure as possible.
The Solution: You can contact Facebook via its official Twitter account or via your Support Inbox. Go to Settings > Support Inbox to find yours.
(Note: If you have additional issues with your Facebook account and/or security, you should visit the Bullying Center, Safety Check, and Safety Center pages.)
How to Protect Your Facebook Account
Before we get into fixing your Facebook account, it’s important to understand how to keep hackers out of your account. Setting a stronger password, avoiding spam, and increasing your privacy are just a few of the steps you can take to protect your Facebook account.
Use a Strong Password
You must create a memorable password that is not vulnerable to brute force attacks. Enabling fingerprint access is both good security advice and convenient.
After you’ve covered the fundamentals, there are a few more advanced options to consider. You can enable email or login notifications in Security and login > Setting up extra security > Login Alerts. Receive notifications when unrecognized logins occur.
You can also enable two-factor authentication in the security settings. When logging in from an unknown device or browser, a security code must be entered, which is another powerful deterrent to consider.
Take Precautions When Browsing Facebook
You should also consider what precautions you can take to protect your Facebook account from hackers.
Clickbait links, for example, should be avoided. This may seem obvious, but there have been numerous reports of people clicking spam on Facebook and destroying their computers. It occurs. And it stinks. Don’t allow it to happen to you. Avoid clicking on spam links, which may appear in your Messenger inbox.
You should also avoid fake websites that look like Facebook and may steal your personal information. This type of attack is known as phishing, and it should not be taken lightly. If you enter your login information into a site like this, your Facebook account will be hacked in seconds.
Adjust Your Facebook Privacy Settings
You can also increase the privacy settings on your photos, posts, and tags.
Hide these items to protect your privacy, especially if you also create friend lists. This is a good way to ensure that your items are shown to specific people rather than your entire list or, worse, the entire internet.
Making the changes to your Facebook account’s security limits the number of comments you receive and limits them to the people you trust the most. As a result, you are less likely to click on a link from someone posing as a friend.
How to Fix a Hacked Facebook Account
Don’t be concerned if your Facebook account has been compromised. It is possible to resolve the problem.
To lessen the impact, you should:
- Change your Facebook password.
- Remove suspicious third-party applications.
- Alert your friends and family as soon as possible.
- Report the issue to Facebook via the company’s official channels.
If you need more detailed guidance, here’s a full guide on how to fix a hacked Facebook account.
Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy and Security
Hopefully, you now understand how to determine if your Facebook account has been compromised and what to do about it.
Remember that, while nothing is ever completely secure, Facebook provides numerous ways to protect your account. This makes it difficult for hackers to obtain your data or personal information. Taking the necessary security precautions ensures that you are as safe as possible.
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