How to hack your old instagram account

Continuing to Keep Instagram Safe and Secure

December 15, 2022

We're committed to fostering a safe and supportive community for everyone who uses Instagram. There are some easy things you can do to help keep your account safe, like making sure you have a strong password and enabling two-factor authentication. You can also review and increase security for your account at any time by completing Instagram’s Security Check-Up.

In addition to these ongoing safety tools, we’re excited to highlight several new features designed to help keep people’s accounts safe, and offer them more support if they lose account access.

Additional Account Support

To support accounts that are experiencing access issues or may have been hacked, we created Instagram.com/hacked - a new, comprehensive destination people can rely on to report and resolve account access issues.

If you’re unable to log in to your account, enter Instagram.com/hacked on your mobile phone or desktop browser. Next, you will be able to select if you think you’ve been hacked, forgot your password, lost access to two-factor authentication or if your account has been disabled. From there, you will be able to follow a series of steps to help regain access to your account. If you have multiple accounts associated with your information, you will be able to choose which account needs support.

We know losing access to your Instagram account can be stressful, so we want to ensure people have multiple options to get their accounts back if they lose access.

Earlier this year we started testing a way for people to ask their friends to confirm their identity in order to help regain access to their account, and this option is now available to everyone on Instagram. If you find yourself locked out of your account, you will be able to choose two of your Instagram friends to verify your identity and get back into your account.

Keeping Your Account Secure

In addition to new account support and recovery methods, we’re testing ways to help prevent hacking on Instagram before it happens. First, we remove accounts that our automated systems find to be malicious, including ones that impersonate others, which goes against our Community Guidelines. Second, because bad actors often don’t immediately use accounts maliciously, we’re now testing sending warnings if an account that we suspect may be impersonating someone requests to follow you. In the coming months, we’ll also send warnings if an account that may be impersonating a business sends you a Direct Message (DM).

Finally, we’re now showing the blue verified badge for verified accounts in more places across Instagram. That way, you can quickly determine whether the account you are interacting with is authentic. In addition to Profiles, you can now see verified blue badges in Stories and DMs and coming soon, Feed.

To learn more about Meta’s latest safety efforts, visit the Meta Newsroom. To learn more about preventing scams on Instagram, visit Instagram’s Help Center.

#ANNOUNCEMENTS
#INSTAGRAM
2023 Instagram Trend Report
#CREATORS
#DESIGN
#BUSINESS
#INSTAGRAM
#ANNOUNCEMENTS
Instagram and the Brooklyn Museum award 10 grants to Black artists, designers and small businesses
#CREATORS
#INSTAGRAM
#ANNOUNCEMENTS
Updates to How We Protect Our Community from Abuse

Instagram Hacked? Here’s How to Recover Your Account

Instagram is crucial for designers, serving as a marketing and networking tool that’s key to landing new clients. So what should you do if you’ve had your Instagram hacked? First, don’t panic—you’re not alone. “I’d say it’s common for the average user to get hacked to some degree in their life,” says Matthew Krull, a social media strategist at design-focused communications agency Novità. “I hear more often than not from my friends and colleagues that they’ve experienced some suspicious activity on their account.” But if you’ve had your Instagram account hacked, it’s important to recover it as quickly as possible. Here are the steps for how to get your Instagram account back, as well as measures you can take to bolster your cybersecurity.

Can you get your Instagram back if it’s been hacked?

The short answer: It depends.

If you’ve had your Instagram hacked, it is possible to get it back, but you need to move fast, so that the hacker can’t compromise your account further. If you act quickly, you might be able to kick out the hacker while they’re in your account and before they’ve changed your info, deleted your photos, or posted to your profile. That way you can save yourself the trouble of having to recover your Instagram account through a Meta support request.

But if the hacker has already gone beyond logging in and potentially changing your password, Instagram account recovery becomes a lot more difficult. Depending on how much damage they’ve done, Instagram may be able to help you recover your account. But brace yourself: If your account has been deleted by a hacker, there might be nothing the Instagram support team can do to recover your account.

How do I get my Instagram account back?

There are two different levels of hacking: One that only changes your password, and another that changes your password and contact info. Here’s how to report a hacked Instagram account, and how to recover your Instagram account as soon as possible.

What to do if a hacker has changed your Instagram password

If you’ve found that your password no longer works, simply follow the steps for setting a new one, as prompted by the login page on the Instagram app. Hopefully, the login link will be sent to your email account or phone number, and you can use a security code to log back in to your account and change your password. This would be the best case scenario, as you can solve the problem yourself without having to contact Instagram. (That said, it’s not a bad idea to contact Instagram customer service anyway and let them know that your Instagram account has been hacked—the company may point out some helpful security tips to keep your account safe in the future.)

You’ve had your Instagram hacked, and the hacker changed your password and contact information. Now what?

Hitting a brick wall at the login screen? Yikes. If you’re locked out of your social media account, and you don’t receive a password reset link when you request one via the Forgot password button, a hacker may have changed your email and phone number. This is a more common type of hacking, as scammers know you will try to reset your password yourself, and they will want to keep control of the account for themselves. They may even hold your Instagram account for ransom, and request bitcoin or other plunder for you to get it back. If that’s the case, you’ll need to report the activity to Instagram by following the instructions here. They will ask you to verify your identity—you might even have to take a video selfie to prove you are who you say you are. This process likely won’t give you immediate access; it could take days or even weeks to recover your Instagram account.

Can you recover your Instagram account if it has been deleted?

In some cases, hackers might delete all your posts, or they might delete your account entirely. If they’ve deleted some but not all of your account, you might be able to retrieve posts by going into the Your Activity section of your Instagram account and selecting Recently deleted. There, you’ll find posts from the last 30 days as well as stories from the last 24 hours. You can then restore those images or videos.

But if your account has been totally deleted, you might be out of luck. Instagram itself says, “When you delete your account, your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes, and followers will be permanently removed.” You can create a new account with the same email address you used before, but you may not be able to get the same username.

That said, there is a window in which you can recover your Instagram account. “If someone has deleted your account, you technically have 30 days to contact Instagram to explain that you have been hacked and [ask them] to put your account back up. Instagram claims it stores your data for that long,” says digital marketer Jonathan Simon, director of marketing and communications at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. “However, this is a long shot. Once your account is deleted, it is likely gone.”

Interior designer Kristen McGinnis, for instance, was not one of the lucky ones. Back in 2020, she found that she was logged out of her Instagram account due to suspicious activity—even though her two-factor authentication was enabled. “Instagram’s account retrieval process includes going through identity confirmation. I submitted this well over a dozen times within a month and received zero response,” McGinnis says. “Sadly, I never received any help, only headache and heartache.”

After a month, McGinnis gave up. She started a new Instagram account and used her inaugural post to explain what had happened to her former handle. She then started the arduous process of re-following her former connections, hoping they’d follow her back. Although many of them did, she needed to message others to reintroduce herself. The small silver lining was that her photos were auto-saved to her phone. Still, the mishap had a cost. “I lost a few thousand followers, many of whom I will never get back because I don’t know who to reach out to,” McGinnis says.

Even though no method of account protection is completely fail-safe, staying on top of security best practices can hopefully prevent you from having to rebuild your following. You can also download your data periodically in order to keep a record of your posts, your followers, and even your comments—that way, if you have your Instagram hacked and eventually need to rebuild your account, you have a head start.

What should you do if you’re locked out of your Instagram account?

For starters, remain calm. Sometimes getting locked out—especially for business accounts—is simply due to an oversight. “For instance, let’s say a social media manager moves on from the company,” says New York– and London-based digital content consultant Charlene C. Lam. “If a transition plan isn’t in place, it may be a while before the remaining team members realize they don’t know the Instagram password.”

To mitigate that risk, keep your Instagram account recovery codes stored in a secure place. These recovery codes will be used to reset two-factor authentication, which will help you get your Instagram account back. They can be found on the Security page of the Instagram app.

Unfortunately, there may be an instance where you’ve been locked out because you were genuinely been hacked by a scammer.

What should you do if you suspect someone is trying to hack your Instagram?

There are a few red flags that may indicate that someone may be trying to hack your Instagram account (or already has). Three big ones: receiving a changed-password email from Instagram that you didn’t trigger yourself, receiving an unprompted email-change request from [email protected], and seeing posts you didn’t make. Here’s how to get help.

What to do if Instagram noticed suspicious activity on your account

If someone attempts to reset your password, Instagram will send you an email informing you of the change. “I take immediate action as soon as I get a notification or email from Instagram letting me know there was suspicious activity on any of the accounts I manage,” Matthew Krull says.

If you receive an email that someone has requested to change your password, and it wasn’t you, someone may be trying to hack your Instagram account. Report the situation to Instagram via the link in that email, then immediately change your password.

If you received an email from [email protected] asking about changing the email address associated with your Instagram account, but didn’t make that request yourself, click the link in the message that says Secure My Account. If you are unable to get through the login page, the scammer may have changed your password. Don’t lose hope yet—you can still get help by requesting a login link or a security code.

But remain attentive when it comes to these Instagram emails: Some messages that appear to be from Instagram could be phishing attempts or scams from hackers. The good news is that Meta has developed a function to help protect you. If you enter the security section of the Instagram app, you can see what emails Instagram has sent you within the last two weeks. Reviewing that data should help you verify an email’s authenticity.

Keep in mind that other messages, like Instagram DMs and WhatsApp chats, can also contain phishing scams. Stay alert!

What to do if you noticed suspicious activity on your account

If you notice photos or stories you didn’t post yourself appearing on your page, but you’re still logged in, you’ve probably been hacked on Instagram. You should change your password immediately, as doing so will kick the hacker out of your account. You should also manually log out of any suspicious devices via your login activity page, as well as revoke access from any third-party apps that might have had a security breach and exposed your login information.

How to protect your Instagram account

Hacking isn’t limited to high-profile Instagrammers. “Any account can be a target, because if the hackers are successful, they can use the hacked account to try to get important information like credit card numbers, addresses, and PINs from other unsuspecting users,” Jonathan Simon says.

A strong password is an obvious place to start—and yes, those strings of letters and numbers suggested by Apple’s iOS are pretty safe. (If you’re concerned about remembering all of your logins, a digital password manager can help.) Still, there are a few additional steps you should take to thwart a potential hacking.

Turn on two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication requires users to enter a security code from an authentication app or your cell phone via text message (SMS) every time they log in to a new device—and it’s a solid deterrent to scammers. Meta offers this service, and you can set it up via the security page in the app.

Check your login activity

Keep an eye on your login activity, which can also be found under the security section of the app. There, you’ll see all the devices that your Instagram account is currently logged into, plus their geographic locations. If you see suspicious activity here, you can log out of those devices from your current one.

Check which third-party apps have access to your Instagram account

Granting third-party apps access to your account is an easy way to share content across different platforms, but it does come with some level of risk: Hackers can break into those apps and steal your Instagram login info. Head to your security settings, then click Apps and Websites to see what other apps have access to your Instagram account. Keep an eye out for any big data breaches that might affect those apps—if one happens, you’ll want to change your password immediately.

Enable auto-save

Though this measure won’t necessarily protect your account from hackers, it does give you a chance to save all your photos to your phone in the event you have your Instagram hacked and deleted. In the app, click on Settings, then Account, then Original Photos (iPhone) or Original Posts (Android), and make sure that Save is toggled on.

What to do if someone tries to access your Facebook or Instagram

A notification pops up on the smartphone screen: "We detected an unusual login attempt from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." The first reaction is panic, especially if you live in, say, Vladivostok. What could it be? System failure? Or is someone from the other side of the world really encroaching on your account?

There is no way to panic in such a situation - this will only play into the hands of the burglars. So that you can remain calm and survive this incident with minimal losses, we will arm you with knowledge: we tell you what the matter might be and how to act. nine0003

What could have happened

First, let's figure out how a stranger could gain access to your account at all. There are several options here.

Data leak and wildcard attack

A third party site where you registered might have been leaked. Having acquired a list of logins, e-mail addresses and passwords, scammers use them for a substitution attack, that is, they try to enter stolen credentials on many sites. Unfortunately, many people set the same passwords to protect their accounts in different services - this is what criminals are counting on. nine0003

Alternatively, your Facebook or Instagram credentials may have been leaked from the app you trusted them to. For example, in June last year, thousands of passwords from Instagram accounts leaked to the network, the owners of which used the Social Captain service to buy likes and followers. It turned out that he did not encrypt customer data, and anyone could get access to it. It is reasonable to assume that many users of the service have since experienced hacking attempts.

Phishing

It may also be that some time ago you fell for phishing, and your login with a password fell into the hands of scammers directly. They clicked on some link, and on the page that opened, very similar to the Facebook or Instagram login screen, they entered their credentials. So they ended up with the criminal. For example, most recently, our experts discovered a phishing campaign in which victims were lured to phishing pages by the threat of blocking their Facebook account due to copyright infringement.

Password theft

Your password may have been stolen by malware you picked up somewhere. Many Trojans have a built-in keylogger, a program that registers keystrokes on the keyboard. All logins and passwords that the victim enters, the keylogger directly passes into the hands of attackers.

Access token stolen

Someone may have stolen your access token. So that you don't have to enter a password every time you log into Facebook or Instagram, it saves a small piece of information needed to log in to your computer, which is called a token or access token. If an attacker steals the current token, he will be able to log into the account without a username and password. nine0003

Tokens can be stolen in different ways. Sometimes this is done through vulnerabilities in Facebook itself - for example, in 2018, attackers were able to get access tokens to 50 million Facebook accounts. Also, attackers can use browser extensions to steal tokens.

Login from someone else's device

It's possible that you logged into Facebook or Instagram from someone else's device - at a party, in an Internet cafe, in a hotel lobby, and so on - and did not log out after that. Or, for example, they forgot to log out of their account on a device that they had already sold or donated. Now someone has discovered your oversight and logged into your account. nine0003

False alarm (phishing again)

Your account may not have been hacked at all, but they are trying with a fake suspicious login notification. This is the same phishing that we talked about above, but a slightly different version of it. Instead of the threat of blocking, scammers can use fake suspicious login notifications with a link to phishing sites similar to the login page. Attackers expect that the victim in a panic will go to a fake site and enter their username and password there. nine0003

And what to do?

We have sorted out the possible causes, now it's time to act. To get started, log into your account - but in any case not through the link from the notification (as we already know, it can lead to a phishing site), but through the mobile application or by entering the address in the browser manually. If the password does not match and you can no longer log into your account, refer to the detailed instructions on what to do if your account has already been hijacked, which we published earlier.

If you are still allowed into your account, go to your account settings and verify the authenticity of the notification. For each social network, the path to the desired settings item will be different - see how this is done on Facebook and Instagram. Then go to the “Account Logins” section: if there are no suspicious entries there, then everything is in order, and the message about the hack was still phishing. nine0003

If you really see a suspicious one in the list of logins to your account, then it's time to hurry up to take protective measures - timely actions will help soften the blow:

Log out of your account on all devices. On Instagram, you will have to manually end each session in menu Account Logins . And on Facebook, this can be done with a single click in the Security and login section in the settings. This will reset the access tokens.
Make sure that the correct phone number and email address are specified in the account settings: attackers could change the data so that the link or code to change the password is sent to them. If they managed to do this, change it back to yours. nine0052
Set a new password that is strong and one that you don't use anywhere else. If you're not sure you can remember it, save it in a password manager. By the way, at the same time the program will help you come up with a reliable combination.
Turn on two-factor authentication to make it harder for attackers to break into your accounts, even if they know your password.
After that, be sure to check all your devices with a reliable antivirus to make sure that they are free of malware. Attention to security settings along with good protection will make your account your fortress. nine0052

Tips

Christmas and security

Many famous break-ins began during the Christmas holidays. A few simple tips will reduce your risk of becoming the next victim.

Is it safe to use Avast in 2023?

Avast solutions have a good reputation, but several incidents cast doubt on their reliability. We tell you whether you can trust Avast products.

Football cyberthreats

How to watch the World Cup and not become a victim of fraud.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter

Email*
*
- I agree to provide my email address to AO Kaspersky Lab in order to receive notifications of new publications on the site. I can withdraw my consent at any time by clicking on the "unsubscribe" button at the end of any of the emails sent to me for the above reasons. nine0052

What to do if your Instagram account could be hacked?

Take action on the website or app to secure your Instagram account if you think it has been hacked or is being used by someone else. If someone has accessed your account or you're having trouble signing in, visit this page in a browser on your computer or mobile device to help protect your account.

You can also try to restore access according to the instructions below. Some of the actions listed are not available for all account types, but we recommend trying each one. nine0003

Check if you received an email from Instagram

If you received an email from [email protected] informing you that your email address has changed, please try to cancel and secure your account by clicking on the link. If some other information has changed (for example, the password), and you cannot restore the previous email address, request a login link or Instagram security code.

Request Instagram login link

To help us verify that the account belongs to you, request a login link, which we will send to your email address or phone number.

To request a login link:

Click Get help signing in (Android) or Forgot your password? (iPhone or browser).

Enter the username, email address, or phone number associated with your account and click Next. If you don't have access to that username, email address, or phone number, enter the login information you last used. Then click Can't reset your password? under the Next button and follow the instructions on the screen. nine0003

Pass verification to verify you are human (browser only).

Select your email address or phone number, and then click Next.

Follow the login link provided in the email or SMS and follow the instructions on the screen.

Request a security code or support on Instagram

If you are unable to recover your account using the login link, please request support.

To do this, follow the steps below. nine0003

Instagram app for Android

Instagram app for iPhone

Enter a secure email address that only you can access. After submitting your request, expect an email from Instagram with further instructions.

Learn more about what to do if you don't know your username.

Verify your identity

If you request support for an account that does not have a photo of you, you will receive an automatic email response from Meta Support. In order to verify your identity, we will ask you to provide the email address or phone number that you provided during registration, as well as the type of device from which you registered (for example, iPhone, Android device, iPad, etc.). nine0003

If you request support for an account that contains a photo of you, we will ask you to take a video selfie of you turning your head in different directions. This way we can verify that you are a real person and confirm your identity.

After sending a video selfie, you will receive an email from Instagram to the email address you provided. With the help of this video, we will be able to verify that you are a real person and verify your identity.

Note. The video you send will never appear on Instagram and will be deleted after 30 days. nine0003

If we can't verify your identity using the received video, you can submit a new one for verification.

Note. Instagram does not use facial recognition, and we do not use this technology for video selfies.