How to recover stolen Facebook account

Have you been unable to access your Facebook account since this morning ? Trying to log in, do you receive an error message that warns you that your login details are incorrect, even though you are sure you have typed them in correctly? Did a friend of yours just call you to ask about the strange message in English you were going to send him? In that case, if you are here now and are reading this tutorial, chances are you have come to the conclusion that your account has been hacked.

Does this mean that you will have to say goodbye to your profile (and your privacy) forever and create a new one from scratch? Absolutely not! By continuing to read this guide, in fact, you will be able to know how to recover the stolen Facebook account , reporting the incident to the social network and starting the account recovery procedure. Additionally, you can even take some security measures – such as enabling two-factor authentication and enabling notifications of unrecognized logins – to prevent someone from sneaking into your account again in the future.

How do you say? Are you looking forward to getting your Facebook account back and securing it? Well, then let’s not waste any more precious time and get right into the heart of this tutorial. Make yourself comfortable, just take a few minutes of free time, to read the instructions contained in the next paragraphs and implement the procedures I am about to give you. I wish you happy reading and I wish you a big good luck for everything!

Index

• How to recover a stolen Facebook account
• How to avoid getting your Facebook account stolen
  • Use a secure password
  • Enable two-factor authentication
  • Enable notifications for unrecognized logins
  • Check the connected devices
• What to do in case of problems or doubts

How to recover a stolen Facebook account

If your Facebook account has been hacked and, therefore, you are reading this tutorial because you want to know how to recover the stolen Facebook account , the first operation you must take is to report the incident to the social network and start the procedure of account recovery, in order to regain control of it as soon as possible.

This operation can only be performed from a browser, therefore, visit the official page for reporting compromised accounts and follow the procedure indicated below.

After clicking on the link I gave you just now, click on the button My account has been compromised and, in the next text field that is shown to you, type the email address or mobile number associated with your account, to search for your profile.

Now, click on the Search button , to continue and then type, in the displayed text field, the  current or previous password , that is the last access password you remember. To continue, click on the Continue button .

In this regard, if you do not remember your password , or if you have to type an obsolete password , do not worry, as in this case you will be prompted to change it.

Next, indicate why you believe you have been the victim of a hacker attack by checking one of the options listed ( I saw a post, message or event on my account that I did not create ; Someone else is logged in to my account without my permission ; I found an account that uses my name or photos ; People can see items in my account that I thought were private or I don’t see the right option in this list ) and click the Continue button .

After indicating why you believe your account has been the victim of a cyber attack, click the First steps button and wait for the social network to analyze the recent activity that has been performed with your account.

At the end of this automatic operation, the actual account recovery procedure will be started which consists of several steps including changing the password , verifying the email addresses and telephone numbers connected to your account and also verification. recent activity on the profile .

To start the procedure, then click on the Continue button and, in the form that is shown on the screen, reset the access key to your account by typing a  new password that you have never used before (the new password must be entered a second time also in the text field Type the new password again ) and then clicking on the Continue button .

Once this is done, you will be shown the email addresses and telephone numbers connected to your account, for the purpose of an evaluation: if you identify an email address or a telephone number, which you have not added, put the check mark on them and click the Delete button . Alternatively, if everything is fine, uncheck any boxes and click the Skip button .

Now, you will be shown the recent activity that was done with your account. If you find some posts that you have not written or if there are other types of “suspicious” activities, select them by placing the check mark next to them and then click on the Delete button . If, on the other hand, you do not find any “suspicious” activity, do not select anything and click the Skip button .

At the end of the procedure, you will see the Operation completed screen and you will have carried out all the steps necessary to recover your account and to delete, as far as possible, the activities carried out by the identity thief with your account.

Now, therefore, all you have to do is access the Facebook News Feed by clicking on the button Access the News section .

How to avoid getting your Facebook account stolen

After having the unpleasant experience of having your account stolen, how about taking some security measures to secure it?

In this case you should definitely keep on reading: in the next chapters will explain how to set a password secure , enable the ‘two-factor authentication , turn on notifications for unauthorized access as well as check the devices connected to increase the security level of the your Facebook account .

Use a secure password

Using a secure password is the first step you need to take to secure your account. For this reason, when choosing the new password for your Facebook account , take into account the following suggestions.

• Use a long password : the password must be alphanumeric and consist of at least 15-20 characters , among which there must also be special characters, to avoid it being somehow “guessed” by some cybercriminal. In this regard, for more information about it, read my tutorial where I explain how to make a secure password .
• Do not enter personal data : the password must not contain any elements relating to you or your family. Therefore, avoid using your child’s name or the date of your wedding anniversary as a password: you would risk giving an “assist” to anyone who would like to take over your account.
• Change your password often : Changing your password at least once every two months is essential to decrease the chances of it being intercepted. For more information, read my tutorial on how to change your Facebook password , so you can do this later.
• Use different passwords for each account : in this way, if someone manages to capture the password of your Facebook account, all other accounts will not be compromised.
• Keep your password in a password manager – there are no safer “places” to keep your passwords. If you want to learn more about the use of some password managers, such as the 1Password multi-platform software ,  read my tutorial in which I talk about how to manage passwords .

Enable two-factor authentication

The ‘ authentication on two factors  is another important way to protect your account Facebook from unauthorized access.

Thanks to it, in fact, only you will be able to access your account since you will be asked to enter a second key, which you can generate with an authentication app installed on your device or you can receive via SMS .

To enable two-factor authentication, acting from a smartphone and tablet, go to the Settings and privacy> Settings> Password and security menu and tap on Use two-factor authentication .

From a PC , on the other hand, connected to the Facebook login page , go to the Settings and privacy> Settings menu and, in the page that opens, select from the left sidebar the item Protection and access . Finally, click on the entry Use two-factor authentication .

Once this is done, in both cases, select a security method, such as an authentication app such as Google Authenticator for Android and iOS / iPadOS , to receive the verification codes or choose whether to receive the codes via text messages ( SMS) and follow the guided procedure for configuring the option you have chosen.

After activating two-factor authentication, whenever you log into your Facebook account from a new device or browser, you will need to generate or obtain a second key to use to log in.

For more information, in case of doubts or problems, refer to my tutorial on how to lock Facebook in addition to the one on how to activate 2FA .

Enable notifications for unrecognized logins

Also turn on notifications for unrecognized access  can help you in securing your account. Thanks to these notifications, in fact, you will know if someone has actually connected to your Facebook account and you can possibly “throw them out”, before they do any damage.

If you want to activate notifications relating to unauthorized access by acting from a smartphone and tablet, go to the Settings and privacy> Settings> Password and security menu and tap on the Authorized access item .

From a PC , on the other hand, log into your Facebook account and go to the Settings and privacy> Settings> Security and access menu  .

Once this is done, in both cases, press on the item Receive alerts on unrecognized accesses , and be sure to activate notifications for any unauthorized access attempts on Facebook and Messenger , as well as receive alerts via email .

Finally, to confirm the changes made, press the Save button (from smartphone / tablet) or Save changes (from PC).

For more information about it, in case of doubts or problems, read my tutorial on how to find out who enters your Facebook .

Check the connected devices

Since you believe that your Facebook account has been compromised, I also recommend that you check which devices are connected to your account , in order to disconnect any unrecognized devices.

To do this from smartphones and tablets, go to the Settings and privacy> Settings> Password and security menu and tap on the Authorized access item .

From a PC, however, you can find the Authorized access section by going to the Settings and privacy> Settings> Security and access menu .

Once this is done, in both cases, check the list of recognized devices: if there is any that you think is suspicious, press the X icon to remove it via the Facebook app for smartphones and tablets.

From a PC, instead, put the check mark on the unrecognized device and press the Remove button to disconnect it.

In case of doubts or problems, or for more information about it, refer to my tutorial in which I explain how to see the last access to Facebook .

What to do in case of problems or doubts

Did you have trouble getting your stolen Facebook account back ? Were you unable to enable one of the security systems listed above?

In this case, I recommend that you visit the  Facebook help center  in order to resolve any problems or doubts that have arisen after reading my tutorial.

You can find a comprehensive answer to your questions either by typing a query that identifies your problem in the search bar located at the top or by reading one of the articles located in the Popular Topics section .