How to Recover stolen Facebook account
Since this morning you are no longer able to access your Facebook account? If you try to log in, do you receive an error message stating that the data entered is incorrect? A friend of yours has just called you to ask you for explanations about the pretty little phrases you would have written in your diary? For a reason, your account has been stolen!
Does this mean that you will have to say goodbye to your profile (and your privacy) forever and create a new one starting from scratch? Absolutely not! You can recover the stolen Facebook account by reporting the incident to the social network and starting the account recovery process. As if this were not enough, you can even take some security measures – such as activating two-factor authentication and notifications about unrecognized access – to prevent someone from sneaking into your account again in the future.
Can not wait to get your stolen Facebook account back and secure it? Well, let’s not waste any more precious time and get right into the heart of this tutorial right away. Get comfortable, take 5-10 minutes to read the information in the next paragraphs and implement the various “tips” that I will give you. I wish you a good read and I’ll give you a big good luck for everything!
Index
- How to Recover stolen Facebook account
- How to avoid having your account stolen
- What to do in case of problems or doubts
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
If your Facebook account has been stolen, you must report the incident to the social network and start the process of recovery of the account in order to regain control. To recover your stolen Facebook account, then visit the official page for reporting compromised accounts and follow the procedure that is listed below.
After clicking on the link I gave you earlier, you should see a box containing a message telling you to start the account recovery process if you think it was compromised by another person or a virus . To start the procedure in question, click on the blue button. My account has been compromised and, in the current or previous Password text field, type the last login password you remember.
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
Next, tell me why you think you were the victim of a hacker attack by checking one of the five options listed (I saw a post, a message or an event on my account that I did not create; Someone else logged in to my account without my permission; I’ve found an account that uses my name or my photos; people can see items in my account that I thought were private or I do not see the right option in this list) and click the button Go on.
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
After indicating why you believe your account was the victim of a cyber attack, click the First steps button and wait for the social network to analyze the recent activity that was performed with your account. After that the actual procedure of recovery of the account which is composed of 3 steps will start: the first consists in changing the password, the second in checking any apps that have been recently connected to the account the third in the verification of the activity recently completed on the profile.
To start the procedure, then click on the Continue button and, in the form that is shown on the screen, reset the access key to your account by typing the current password and a new password that you have never used before in the homonymous fields (the You must enter a new password a second time in the text field, type the new password again) and then click on the Next button.
In the second step, you will be shown any “suspicious” applications connected to your Facebook account. If you did not add them, put the check mark next to their name and click the Delete button, otherwise, if you do not find the presence of apps that have not been connected by you, do not check any boxes and click on the Skip button.
In the third step, instead, you will be shown the recent activity that was done with your account. If you find some “Like” that you did not put or if there are other types of “suspicious” activities, select them by putting the check mark next to them and then click on the Delete button. If, on the other hand, you do not find the presence of “suspicious” activity, do not select anything and click on the Skip button.
At the end of the procedure, you will see the message “Operation completed!”. You have finally managed to recover your account and to eliminate, as far as possible, the activities carried out by the identity thief with your account; you can then access the Facebook news feed by clicking on the blue button. Go to the News section.
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
How to avoid having your Facebook account stolen
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
After having the unpleasant experience of having stolen your account, how about adopting some security measures to make it safe? Well, then keep reading because in the next paragraphs I will show you how to use a secure password, enable two-factor authentication and notifications for unauthorized access can raise the security level of your Facebook account.
Use a sufficiently secure password
Using a sufficiently secure password is the first step you need to take to secure your account. For this reason, when choosing the new password of your Facebook account, keep in mind the following suggestions.
- Use a long password – it must be at least 15-20 characters to prevent it from being “guessed” by some cybercriminals.
- Toggle numbers, letters and symbols – in this way the password will be difficult to guess and the attackers will not be able to perpetrate the attacks based on dictionaries.
- Do not enter personal data – the password must not contain any elements regarding you or your family. Therefore, avoid using your child’s name or the date of your wedding anniversary as a password: you would risk doing an “assist” to those who would like to take possession of your account.
- Change password often – changing the password at least once every two months is essential to decrease the chances of it being intercepted.
- Use different passwords for each account – by doing so, if someone manages to capture your Facebook account password, all other accounts will not be compromised.
- Keep your password in a password manager – there are no “places” more secure than passwords. If you want to deepen the use of some password managers, such as 1Password and LastPass, read the tutorial in which I talk about how to manage passwords.
Enable two-factor authentication
Enabling two-factor authentication is another important way to protect your Facebook account from unauthorized access. Thanks to it, in fact, only you can access your account since you will be required to enter a second key, which you can generate with the Facebook app installed on your device or you can receive via SMS.
To enable two-factor authentication, linked to the Facebook login page, click on the arrow at the top right and select the Settings item from the menu that appears. In the page that opens, select the entry Protection and access from the left sidebar and click on the Edit button located next to the word Use two-factor authentication.
Now, click on the Configure link which is next to the item Two-factor authentication is disabled, click on the Activate button in the box that appears on the screen and follow the wizard to complete the process. Easier than that ?!
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
From now on, whenever you log in to your Facebook account from a new device or a new browser, you’ll need to generate or get a second key to use to login. Your account is now much safer!
Activate notifications of unrecognized accesses
Also enabling notifications for unrecognized access can help you secure your account. Thanks to these notifications, in fact, you will know if someone has actually connected to your Facebook account and you can possibly “throw it out” before he does any damage.
If you want to activate notifications for unauthorized access, log into your Facebook account, click on the arrow symbol located at the top right and, in the drop-down menu that opens, select the item Settings. Then click on the Protection and Account item (on the left), click on the Edit button located next to Receive notifications on unrecognized access, tick the options Receive notifications and Send access alerts via SMS to the number [your number of mobile phone] and finally click the Save Changes button.
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
As I mentioned earlier, if someone will login to your account without your permission, you will receive a notification and you can immediately remedy the situation by closing the active sessions (just click on the button Disconnected from all sessions from the section Where you have done access).
What to do in case of problems or doubts
How to Recover stolen Facebook account
Did you find it difficult to get back your stolen Facebook account? Did you fail to enable one of the security systems mentioned above? In this case I suggest you visit the Facebook help center in order to solve any problems or doubts that have arisen after reading my tutorial. You can find a complete answer to your questions either by typing a query that identifies your problem in the search bar located at the top that reads one of the articles located in the Popular Topics section.
In addition, you can also try to contact Facebook by sending an e-mail to privacy@facebook.com or abuse@facebook.com to report problems related to your privacy or any abuse perpetrated against you by other users. If you decide to contact Facebook in these ways, I suggest you compose your message in English and explain in detail what problems you have encountered.
How to Recover stolen Facebook account