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Has Your Facebook Been Hacked?

by Team TCP

as of Sep 18, 2022

NOTE: Facebook has a dedicated page to help you better protect your account – see bottom of this post for details and link.

It's no fun logging into Facebook and realizing that someone has hacked your account. But it happens, and the damage done can be a big deal for you and your friends and family.

Thankfully, there are a few things that you can do to prevent your Facebook from being hacked. And if it is hacked, there are also things you can do to fix the problem. Here's how...

How to Identify If Your Facebook Account Was Hacked

Usually, the hack is obvious. Your profile might start posting ads on your friends' walls encouraging them to buy a pair of knock-off Ray-Bans, or something similar. Your hacked Facebook account might also send unwanted emails, change your profile information, or even change your email address and password. These are all bad scenarios and things you'll want to avoid.

Another common Facebook hack sends messages over Messenger to your friends, encouraging them to click on a link. When they do, usually their account will get hacked too. Not only are hacked accounts dangerous for you, but they can put your family and friends at risk too.

Thankfully, there's an easy way to discover whether or not someone else has logged into your Facebook account.

Go to Settings and Privacy > Settings > Security and login > Where You're Logged In and click See More. The information contained in the section will show where you've logged in and with what devices you signed in with.

The Fix: If you do find a discrepancy with where you've logged in to Facebook, you can easily end the activity of that session, which should help safeguard you from any hacking attempt on that device. You can also log out of all sessions to be safe.

Check Your Payment History on Facebook

There's another way to check whether someone has hacked your Facebook account, and that's by checking your purchase history. If you have a credit card stored on your account, it's possible that hackers could make fraudulent purchases and drive up your bill.

To ensure you're protected, go to Settings and Privacy > Settings > Orders and payments, and check under your activity here, which should be readily displayed. You can even check your Ads Payments section to see if a hacker purchased ads.

The Fix: If you notice any fraudulent charges, you can inform Facebook Support about them. The company is pretty good with replying to concerns, whether that's through the Facebook account or through its official Twitter account.

How to Inform Facebook of Hack Attempts

If you have any problems with hacking whatsoever, you should inform Facebook. Facebook is keen to know about hack attempts and wants to do its part to keep the site as safe and secure as possible.

The Fix: You can contact Facebook through its official Twitter account or you can send a message using your Support Inbox. You can find yours by going to Settings > Support Inbox.

You could check out the Bullying Center, Safety Check, and Safety Center pages if you have additional problems with your Facebook account and/or security.

Adjust Your Facebook Privacy Settings

Another step you can take is to increase privacy settings on your photos, posts, and tags.

Hiding these items might keep your privacy more intact, especially if you also set up friend lists. Doing so is a good way to ensure that your items are shown to specific people, and not to your entire list—or worse—the entire internet.

In terms of your Facebook account's security, making the changes limits the number of comments you receive and restricts them to the people you trust most. This makes you less likely to click on a link from someone masquerading as your friend.

How to Fix a Hacked Facebook Account

If you have been unfortunate enough to suffer from a hacked Facebook account, don't worry. It is possible to rectify the issue.

To minimize the damage 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 know how to tell if your Facebook account has been hacked and what to do about it.

And remember, while nothing is ever 100 percent protected, Facebook offers lots of ways to safeguard your account. Doing so means that hackers will be hard-pressed to obtain your data or personal information. By taking the necessary security precautions, you're ensuring that you're as protected as possible.

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