Dear Kim,
Recently, my personal Facebook account was hacked, resulting in changes to my login credentials, along with the email and phone number associated with the account. I am blocked from my profile.
Over the past 16 years, my Facebook account has become a digital scrapbook of cherished memories, a repository of moments shared with friends and family.
It has also served as a vital link for numerous contacts, both personal and professional, playing an important role in my daily communications and connections.
This situation has left me feeling helpless and isolated from an important part of my digital life.
I am writing to ask you for advice on how to proceed with recovering my Facebook account.
Thank you for considering my situation. Your experience in these matters is unparalleled and any help you can provide would be greatly helpful.
– Benjamin in Huntsville, Alabama
Dear Kim: Recently, my personal Facebook account was hacked, resulting in changes to my login credentials, along with the email and phone number associated with the account. I am blocked from my profile
Hello Benjamin,
First, you are not the only one who is a victim of Facebook account hijacking.
Facebook is a big target for hackers and scammers. Think about this: Facebook has 2.989 million monthly active users worldwide. In other words, about 37.2 percent of the world’s population uses Facebook every month.
Your first step: go to Facebook.com/Hacked and tell Facebook that your account has been compromised.
You will need to enter your email address or phone number associated with the account.
Be sure to provide all the information they request. The point here is to prove that you are the rightful owner of the account.
Radio host Kim Komando offers advice to help people navigate the world of technology
Next, contact your friends. You’ll have to do this outside of Facebook, of course. Tell them your account was hacked and ask them to do you a big favor.
You want them to also inform Facebook that your account was hacked.
They can do this by going to their profile, then selecting More or the three-dot menu and then Find Support or Report a Profile.
The idea here is that the greater the number of reports Facebook receives, the more likely you are to re-engage.
You may be tempted by online ads that claim to be able to recover your Facebook account credentials; That’s a scam, so don’t be fooled.
Once you’ve reported that your Facebook account has been compromised, it’s a waiting game.
It could take weeks or months to receive a response. In the meantime, open a new Facebook account and block all your other social media accounts. Everyone needs their own unique password and set up two-factor authentication anywhere you can.
Hi, Kim,
My wife went on a trip to South America. She was standing on the street and she took out her phone to look up directions when a boy on a bike came up and took the phone out of her hand.
She screamed (quite loudly!) but obviously didn’t get the phone back.
I called the service provider immediately and they blacklisted the phone.
They said the phone is not working now, but we are seeing strange activity due to all the connected apps and accounts.
What the hell do I do? I want to help her so she can enjoy her trip! By the way, I filed a police report.
—David in St. Louis, Missouri
Dear David,
You are a good husband to write to me‚ and you were smart to call the service provider.
Unfortunately, much remains to be done. Think about it for a second: much of our digital lives are tied to our phones. They are worth much more than the cost of a replacement.
The catch here, of course, is that his wife’s phone was unlocked because this jerk grabbed it while it was in use. By the way, that was definitely not an accident. More on that below. By the way, travel insurance could cover the cost of stolen electronic devices.
Dear Kim: My wife went on a trip to South America. She was standing on the street and she took out her phone to look up directions when a boy on a bike came up and took the phone out of her hand.
Here is a to-do list. Fast? No, I’m sorry, but these steps are necessary. Don’t worry, I’ll also include instructions for everything.
● Wipe phone data remotely if possible.
● Call your bank and any other connected financial accounts and inform them of the theft.
● Change any and all passwords that were connected to the phone, starting with your Google account and email.
● Exchange the two-factor authentication number associated with your accounts.
● Set up a credit freeze.
● Consider a burner phone for the next trip.
Let’s get into the details
It’s great that you can erase everything from a newer iPhone or Android remotely. The caveat is that you need to set this up ahead of time, before you have to do it.
Activate Find My for an iPhone
● Go to Settings > (your name) > Find Me.
● Consider whether you want your friends and family to know where you are. If so, turn on Share my location.
● Tap Find My iPhone, and then turn on Find My iPhone.
● To see your device even when you are offline, turn on Find My Network.
● To have your device’s location sent to Apple when the battery is low, turn on Send Last Location.
Activate Find my device for Android
● Go to Settings > Security > Find my device. Or try Security & Location or Google > Security.
● Make sure Find My Device is turned on.
While you’re in setup, take a minute to document your phone’s fingerprint. Like any product, your phone has a serial number.
It also has an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity). While the serial number comes from the manufacturer, IMEI numbers are standard throughout the industry.
Keep a record of these numbers in case you need to report your phone stolen or missing.
When you find your phone’s IMEI number, take a screenshot.
Then, save that screenshot somewhere you can access it when needed. I keep mine in my cloud photo storage account. You can also print it and save it in the original phone box or another convenient offline location.
● iPhone: Go to Settings > General > About.
● Android: Go to Settings > About phone.
If you had Find My set up in advance…
When the phone is completely lost, you need to remotely wipe the data stored on it to ensure that no one else has access to it. This step is a last resort and be prepared to lose data that was only synced to the phone and not to the cloud.
Remotely erase your iPhone
● From another Apple device, open the Find My app and tap Devices, then tap your phone.
○ Tap Erase this device to erase your data remotely.
● Or sign in to iCloud.com/find and go to the Find iPhone feature.
○ Select your lost phone, then select Erase iPhone.
● Use a family member’s device to wipe their phone if Family Sharing is enabled. You’ll see it listed in your Find My app.
Remotely wipe your Android phone
● From another Android device, open the Find my device app and tap Continue as (your name). Select your lost phone and you will get information about its location.
○ When prompted, select Enable lock and wipe.
○ Select Erase device to erase your data.
● Or go to android.com/find and sign in to your Google account. Select your lost phone and you will get information about its location.
○ When prompted, select Enable lock and wipe.
○ Select Erase device to erase your data.
It sounds like your wife unfortunately didn’t have this set up beforehand, David. That’s why it’s important to reset all those passwords and 2FA settings.
Your best option is to set up Google Authenticator on your new phone. This way you can get 2FA codes in that app and not through text messages. It is safer than relying on SMS. I have a full introduction here if you need help setting it up.