Whether you’re a social media marketer, a brand with a large online community, or just a regular person on Instagram, if your IG account gets hacked, the panic is real… We’re here to help and have put together a set of processes for you to work through should the worst happen.
To outline your TWO MAIN OBJECTIVES:
Pre-Empting potential/further damage and taking steps to minimise this
Regain access to your IG account
Step #1 - Check your email account for a message from Instagram
If you have received an email from security@mail.instagram.com letting you know that the email address was changed, you might be able to undo this change by selecting ‘Revert this change’ which can be seen in this email. If additional information was also changed (for example, your password or username), and you're unable to change back the email address, you should request a login link or security code from Instagram.
Step #2 - Request a login link from Instagram
To help Instagram confirm that you own the account, they can request that Instagram sends a login link to your email address or phone number.
To request a login link:
1. On the login screen, tap Get help logging in. (Android) or Forgot password? (iPhone). 2. Enter the username, email address, or phone number associated with your account, then tap Next. Note: If you don’t know the username, email address, or phone number associated with your account, tap Need more help? below the Next button and follow the on-screen instructions. 3. Select either your email address or phone number, then tap Send login link. 4. Click the login link in your email or a text message (SMS) and follow the on-screen instructions.
Step #3 - Request a security code or support from Instagram
To request support from Instagram:
1. From the login link screen, tap Need more help? below Send login link. Select either your email address or phone number, then tap Send security code. 2. If you don’t receive a security code, tap I can’t access this email or phone number below Send security code, then follow the on-screen instructions.
Step #4 - Safe Practices for the Future
Turn on Two-Factor Authentication
Confirm Your Phone Number & Email Address in Account Settings are Correct
Make sure you know or have safely stored the email address that originally set up your Instagram account: this is easy to lose in bigger companies where employees move around
If the email listed in your Instagram profile has changed, you'll recieve two emails asking you to accept or reverse the request. To make sure the request came from you, one email is sent to the original email to deny the change and one is sent to the new email address to allow the change.
✅ If you made the request to change your Instagram profile email:
You'll need to accept the request from your new email account listed in your Instagram profile.
This helps confirm that you have access to the email you're requesting to associate with your Instagram account. Also send an email to the original email account listed in your Instagram profile allowing you to reverse the request if it was not requested by you.
❌ If you did not make the request to change your Instagram profile email:
You'll need to deny the request from the original email associated with your Instagram account. The email will come from security@mail.instagram.com with a special link you can click to reverse the email change and help secure your account.
What to do while you wait...
It's important you continue to monitor what is happening on your page. We don’t expect there to be any activity as hackers often target accounts (especially verified ones✅) so that they can switch the name and effectively ‘steal’ followers. Reporting this immediately will alert Facebook/Meta (Instagram) to this activity. Enable push notifications on your account from a personal account so that any time a post is put up by the account, you are immediately alerted. If any inappropriate content is posted, you will then have the opportunity to report the individual post. Collect a list of your current followers. It is a manual process that will take some time, so prioritise your top followers. Download as much content from your profile as possible and save it somewhere safe. In the case that the hackers delete your account or the content posted to it and you can no longer retrieve it, this is good for backup.
Learn more about what to do if you think your Instagram account was hacked or compromised. If you're having trouble accessing your original Instagram account email, learn what you can do. The more you know, the lower your risk of falling victim to hacking. If you need any support, we’d be happy to offer our advice, or if you need crisis management support, our team of social media specialists are available to discuss your case. Stay safe! - Team Truffle ❤️
