Instagram is one of the fastest growing and entertaining social platforms these days. Unfortunately it’s one of the unsafest social media platforms. I’m not sure why, but Facebook really don’t give a **** about this and they really did not do anything to secure Instagram accounts.
In this article, I will give you the most precise and full tutorial on how to return your hacked Instagram account.
Small facts about hacked Instagram profile
– Instagram support is slow;
– Instagram support forms is hidden;
– Instagram support is not easy to communicate with;
– Instagram software is not logically well developed;
– Instagram is a mobile app, not every function is present in the web version;
How somebody can hack your Instagram account
Basically there is two major ways to lose your Instagram account and been hacked, if we put away guessing the password.
– Phishing (easy) – this is the most easy way for the hacker to hack your Instagram account. Normally this method is used to hack a popular Instagram account of public figures. Most of this figures, are using their business contact email as login email. So for the attacker is very, very easy to make a form that looks like Instagram email, and try to mislead the victim to fill a form.
I can give you an example for my last client. He is a public figure, who was posted his contact email (also a login email) to his Instagram profile. The profile is with 100k followers, but without Instagram verified badges (blue tick). So, the attacker contact my client with fake email, informing the victim that his profile was „approved for blue tick“ and the link in the email was to a fake Instagram domain (already reported by me), who lead to a page that is very similar to Instagram’s design. The victim has to enter his username, password, phone and etc. to receive „the blue tick“. As you can understand, this is not really what will follow if you enter your password. Here is the example of the attacker’s site:
– Hacking email (intermediate) – this is the next most common way to hack Instagram account. There is out there unsecured email clients, who can be hacked by weak „Secret question“. So I advise you to switch to Gmail. And never tell anybody your login emails. Just use login email for every your social profiles and separate contacts email for everybody.
How to return your Instagram account
First it’s very important to understand, that the only way to return your hacked Instagram profile is to do it from the mobile app. You can chose between Android and iOS version depending of your mobile, but keep in mind that iOS is better.
When the hacker get’s your Instagram account he probably will:
– Change your username
– Change your email (probably multiple times)
– Change your phone
– Restrict your profile
– Contact you and he will ask for money
1. If you are unable to login with your Instagram account, go to your email and try to login. If it’s compromised you have to contact your email provider for further instructions or go to step [3]
2. If your email is not compromised and you are able to login there, change your password just to be sure everything is okay with it. Then look for email from Instagram about username/email/phone changes. Find the email that Instagram informs you about email change, there is a button, that you can revert this action. Click it, and if the system returns your account, login with your Instagram account with this email and go to Forgotten password procedure of Instagram.
3. If you are unable to revert email change, then you have to fill a specific form on your mobile. I will not cover the whole process step by step, because it’s very well documented here on Instagram. In this form it’s important to enter your email, that you was registered in Instagram. IG support will track down your profile and it will send you an email, with request for picture of you and a specific number that you have to handwritten to a blank page.
4. Be patient, Instagram support is not so fast. Normally recovering your account takes 3 to 7 days if everything is okay. They will send to your email a password reset link, so you will be able to change your password and enter your profile. If the hacker was not turned on two factor authentication, you will be able to enter your profile, so please go to [6].
5. Sometimes the hacker turned-on the Instagram two factor authentication, so the password reset link will work, but you will be unable to login, because you don’t have the codes. You have two option here. If you already turned two factor authentication use your Instagram recovery codes (or backup codes). If you don’t have them, you have to fill a form on your mobile and the support will tell you the recovery codes that you can use. You can find the form, when you try to login with the new password, and click „Need more help?“ and „Report a problem“ like here. I find it only on iOS:
6. If you are able to login – great! Good job! 🙂 Go to the next in the list.
How to secure your recovered Instagram account
If you just get your account, better be fast and do the following:
– Go to Settings > Account > Linked accounts, look for linked accounts with other sites, click and unlink.
– Change profile email more than once As following:
* Change the profile email to your first email (email A);
* Go to your email A inbox and verify that you made the changes;
* Go to your Instagram profile and change the email to your second email (email B);
* Go to your email B inbox and verify that you made the changes;
This is very important, because Instagram sends to the previously added email, a mail message with a possibility to revert the email change, so if you change it once, the hacker can regain access again. But if you do it twice, the hacker will have a invalid link for email change revert.
– Go to Settings > Security > Two-Factor Authentication. Check what type of two factor authentication is on in your profile. Setup a SMS 2FA and be sure you use your phone. Remove the third party authentication. Also, be sure that you have the backup codes (recovery codes) and generate new ones. Save them in safe place. Next time when the system ask you for a code, like in step [5], you can use this.
Final words on how to recover Instagram hacked account
The most important securing your Instagram profile is:
– Never show your email to somebody;
– Never, never enter password and username of your accounts on places different to the main application
– Always use two factor authentication by phone
You will be safe 🙂
Ask me in the comments down if you have questions or need of assist.
Thanks!
