Social Media Account Hacked: How to Recover It and Report Misuse

You suddenly cannot log in to your Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp account. Or worse, your friends start calling to ask why you messaged them asking for money urgently. Someone has taken over your account, or created a fake profile in your name.

Here is what to do, in the right order.

Step 1: Warn your contacts immediately

The biggest danger is that the hacker uses your account to cheat your friends and family. Use another account, phone call, or a status update from a family member to tell people: "My account has been hacked. Do not send money or share any codes, even if the message seems to come from me."

Step 2: Try to recover the account

• Instagram and Facebook: On the login screen, use the "Forgot password" or "Need more help" option and follow the platform's official recovery process. These platforms also have dedicated help pages for hacked accounts, which you can reach from their official help centres.
• WhatsApp: Reinstall WhatsApp and verify your phone number again. You will receive a 6-digit code by SMS. Once you log back in, the hacker using your number is logged out. If two-step verification was set by the hacker, you may need to wait before you can log in.
• Email: If your email is hacked, recover it first, because the hacker can use it to reset all your other accounts.

Never pay anyone who offers to "recover" your account. Many of these "recovery experts" are scammers too.

Step 3: Secure everything

• Change your password to a strong, new one that you have not used anywhere else.
• Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) or two-step verification.
• Log out of all other devices from the account's security settings.
• Check that your email and phone number in the account are still yours.

Step 4: If someone made a fake profile of you

Report the fake profile as impersonation using the platform's report option, and ask friends to report it too. Save screenshots and the profile link before it is removed.

Step 5: Report the crime

File a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in, especially if the hacker cheated anyone, misused your photos, or threatened you. If money was lost, call 1930 immediately. Keep the screenshots, profile links, and messages the hacker sent. See our guide: How to File a Cyber Crime Complaint in India.

What the law says

Hacking an account and misusing someone's identity may be punishable under Section 66C (identity theft) and Section 66D (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Section 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (cheating by personation), depending on the facts.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice for any specific case.