Your account was hacked: what to do, platform by platform
You can’t log in, or someone is posting as you? Act fast: every platform has a recovery process, and the sooner you act, the easier it is.
What to do first
- Only use the platform’s official recovery page, never a link sent to you in a message: that’s often a scam.
- If you still have access to your email, change its password first: it’s the key to all your accounts.
- Once you get the account back: a new unique password, two-factor authentication turned on, and unknown devices logged out.
- Warn your contacts: the hacker may ask them for money while pretending to be you.
By platform
- Facebook Recover a hacked Facebook account
- Instagram Recover a hacked Instagram account
- WhatsApp Recover a stolen or hacked WhatsApp account
- TikTok Hacked TikTok account: take back control
- X (Twitter) Hacked or compromised X account
- YouTube Recover a hacked YouTube channel
- Snapchat Hacked or compromised Snapchat account
- Telegram Hacked Telegram account or stolen phone
- LinkedIn Hacked LinkedIn account (unauthorized access)
- Google (Recherche) Recover and secure a hacked Google Account
What to avoid
- Never pay a "hacker" who promises to recover your account: they are almost always scammers.
- Never share a code you received by text message, not even with a friend.
Your remedies by country
- DSA: reporting illegal content to a platform (EU) In the European Union, any service that hosts content (social network, forum, sharing site…) must let you report illegal content online, examine your notice carefully and tell you its decision. It works for any content that breaks the law: intimate images, fake profiles, defamation, personal data…
- When a domain registrar ignores your abuse report: ICANN A .com, .net, .org or other generic-extension site is registered through a “registrar” (a domain name registration company). Its contract with ICANN requires it to receive abuse reports, investigate them and respond appropriately. If it does not, you can complain to ICANN.
- Fake profile or online impersonation: what to do in France Creating a fake profile in your name, or using your personal data to disturb your peace or harm your reputation, is a criminal offence in France (identity theft). You can have the platform remove the profile and file a police complaint.
- GDPR: asking for your personal data to be erased In the European Union you can ask a website, company or service to erase data about you (photo, name, address, post…) in the cases set out in the GDPR. It must reply within one month, and it is free.
If it doesn’t work
An official form can go unanswered or be wrongly refused. That’s not the end: there are other doors, heavier but effective — the company hosting the site, the company managing its domain name, the laws of your country, the data protection authority. That’s exactly what we do for you, with your agreement.
- Reporting to the platform
- A written request to the site owner
- The domain name registrar
- The hosting company
- Search engines
- The authority or the courts
Common questions
The hacker changed my email and phone number. What now?
Platforms plan for this: a link sent to your old email, identity checks, a video selfie… Follow the platform’s official hacked-account page, linked on this page.
What if the hacker posted embarrassing content?
Report those posts to the platform, saying the account was hacked, then delete them as soon as you regain access.
This information helps you use your rights. It doesn’t replace advice from a lawyer.