Getting one of your social media channels hacked isn’t anything new these days however it doesn’t make it less frightening whenever that happens. Recently my Instagram account got compromised and you bet that made me crazy even though I know I’m the one to blame for not having a secure enough password. I’ll detail how it happened and how I recovered it in this blog post.
I use Instagram a lot as it’s as personal to me as my Facebook account. In case you’re not following me yet, I love to post food pictures, headphones and things that I’m up to. Most of the things that I do online outside of my work-stuff are mostly personal so there really isn’t any business purpose or value for the account.
How it all unfolded
Everything started when I woke up one day and realized I have plenty of ‘request to follow’ notifications on my phone from my IG account which was weird since my account is public. I was gobsmacked when I found that the account logged-in became ‘janaehumbert99ft’ having a profile picture of a fat butt and a description that clearly baits perverts to follow the account and click the suspicious bio link.
I panicked immediately since my work Instagram account was also logged-in on the phone and I feared that it might get compromised too so I decided to just log out everything. My worst fears were realized when I found that the email address associated to my Instagram account had read emails about changing the account’s password and email address. This meant the hacker not only changed everything on my IG account through having access to my email, but possibly all other sites where it is the main email address (there’s a lot!).
Like any sane person would do, I changed the password of my email immediately and made sure it’s a tough one. I went back to my Instagram case and wrote them detailing everything through this page. At this point, I didn’t have any ideas as to what happened to my account. The way I explained was I thought my account was replaced with another account on my email address, then changed the email address, and then later on deleted my original Instagram account. So to summarize, my email did not have any IG account associated to it anymore since the hacker successfully was able to transfer it to a different email.
After some hours on the same day I was hacked, the new IG account named ‘janaehumbert99ft’ also disappeared which made me think the hacker might have renamed it to something else anew so it become untraceable for me. Another possibility that I thought of was Instagram disabling the account while investigating the issue.
Painful experience with Instagram Support
It was surprising that Instagram was slow and unhelpful at the beginning, oftentimes not understanding the issue at hand. It took 4 and a half days before I got a reply that made me think I’m not close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
They made me write a code, my full name, email address and previous username on a piece of paper, then take a picture of that with me holding it. It sounded weird but I understood that it’s how they could really verify me and my claims.
Instagram support replied after a couple of hours saying my account has been reactivated again. Whew! Problem finally solved right? No!
I still couldn’t login, couldn’t reset password since the email was still not associated to any account and I couldn’t do anything! I emailed them back with that and they replied with almost just the same message which is ‘we have reactivated your account again, sorry about that’. But I still couldn’t login!!!
Much to my dismay I discovered that the account ‘janaehumbert99ft’ has been reactivated again and my friends started telling me that they’re seeing my photos under someone else’s account. Two things became clear to me then.
First was the ‘janaehumbert99ft’ account is really my previous Instagram account. It was just renamed but that’s my account. Remember at the beginning that I was under the impression my original account was swapped out and deleted but it didn’t seem to be the case.
Second was they simply reactivated the account using the same credentials, same email which I didn’t have access with! WTF!!! I got so pissed off because that only makes the hacker do more harm since the account has been reactivated again and more importantly, he can access it again. I was under his mercy basically as he can rename it, change the email and make it untraceable, or worse, start posting nude pictures or what have you and start alienating my followers! So stupid Instagram!
I sent successive replies explaining what I explained above but I did not get a reply on the same and the following day. I got a little worried that I might not be doing myself a favor as I might come across as annoying to whoever is handling my case.
I’ve decided to then just write a new report using the page I linked above. There I explained everything again carefully and made sure it didn’t become too long. It’s a little risky since I thought that could essentially restart my case again and then add up another week to it. Urgghh!
When I was explaining, I mentioned briefly that someone was already handling my case but I was not happy with how it’s being handled. I gave the supporter’s name so the new supporter can hopefully coordinate with him. I still summarized my case in my report and included my realizations that were not there the first time I reported the issue. I tried my best to keep everything not too long but still clear.
After more than 12 hours, a new support person from Instagram replied and much to my delight, it was the reply I was expecting to get from their previous support person. I finally got a link where I can change the password of the account and once I’m able to do that, I proceeded with changing the email back to one that I can access and then swapping back my own details like my username, description and website. Finally I changed the profile picture from the fat girl’s butt to my pretty face. I can’t believe I have my Instagram account back again!
What happened next was I unfollowed a lot of people since the hacker’s strategy seemed to be following lots of male accounts and then get them to follow back or click the suspicious bio link that could get them hacked. I got a minor boost in followers count which subsided down once they realized they’re following an account that was not what they thought it would be.
What to learn from this
There’s plenty to learn from this experience and all of them are unfortunately very basic which we just ignore until we become a victim. I changed all my passwords to a more secure one, enabled two-factor authentication whenever available, and made sure I’m aware what accounts are connected to what emails.
The funny but slightly annoying thing is I could’ve easily just gotten my account back had I not logged out of it on my phone. I could’ve gotten into the settings, changed my password, email and bio and I didn’t have to go through the whole draining process at all.
But if that happened, I’m pretty sure there’s a good chance I won’t change my passwords, make my email addresses more secure, you name them! I would then just be delaying the inevitable.
Not sure I can say right now the learning experience was worth it but hey, my accounts are more secure now, I have my IG back and that’s all that matters! 🙂
My Instagram wasn’t havked my Original name Was _m.kaay__ & Now It’s t_hs_yb_h But it could be changed by now & the Email they changed it To is kedshia2@gmail.com Can’t you Please Help me
Hey dude,
So recently the exact same thing happened to me. I just started using IG and I was super upset to find out that Instagram doesn’t actually have customer support that you can call or email and speak with someone directly.
The hacker also changed my email address so I feel completely lost and vialoted
Any other tips you can offer to help settle this? I’ve already messaged IG through the support page, quite a few times, hopefully they don’t get annoyed with me, but I’m just so frustrated that there’s no person I can speak with directly
Hello . I can recover your instagram account.
Please send a message to @IGsec_ir on instagram.
Jade Reply:
June 14th, 2018 at 10:53 am
Hi my instagram account was hacked can you help me please
Becky Rohrbaugh Reply:
July 27th, 2018 at 2:41 am
I am messaging this on behalf of my daughter. Her instagram account has been hacked and it has been almost 2 weeks now. Instagram has not helped get it back. She had to take a picture of herself with a code and username but the username got changed and also email. Somehow she made another account accidentally when she clicked log on with facebook but she deleted that account. Instagram says they can’t restore deleted accounts but they did restore her deleted account. Every time she gets a message back from instagram, they say they cannot help with 2 accounts but she is only asking for help from her original account. Her username was leannerenee1997 and it got changed to leahsarbanise.
Ali Reply:
September 4th, 2018 at 1:23 am
Did you get any help with this? I am in the exact same boat. I accidentally created a new account with my facebook and deleted it but Instagram thinks i’m talking about the account I deleted and not the original account. my username and password were also changed on my original account and I cannot get access.
Hello . I can recover your instagram account.
Please send a message to @IGsec_ir on instagram.
Antonia Chavis Reply:
May 22nd, 2018 at 3:00 am
Hi my account my account is hacked can you help me
Rebecca Reply:
June 3rd, 2018 at 3:21 pm
My instagram was hacked I need help ? They hacked it with everything like email pw and everything? Help please instagram name is Jayden.x22 that is my account but they changed the name and everything
Hello, I think my IG account has been hacked. When I ask for a change of password, then send an information into my own email to change the password. When I change the password, then now ask me to verify the new code sent into an email z……….4@gmail.com, which is not mine. And then, IG responds in my email that the password has been changed.
I have contacted IG in the last 3 days but no response. Help me! From what I have read so far, I never knew that instagram is such a useless media! This is creepy. Their custome service seems non-existent!
Thanks for give me a good idea.
hii instagram
plz able my insta acount
Hey man, Im going through the same thing right now, ig hit me back and they allowed my access back into my account with my username, BUT all my followers and posts are GONE!!! Can anyone help me please ! I still
Don’t have my actual old page back with my 17K followers
Rachel French Reply:
August 12th, 2018 at 10:47 pm
wait Im so confused, My account was hacked too. When y’all say y’all are contacting Insta…..HOW? I have gone to the the help centre all there is a place to put your feedback? thats what y’all are doing? Theres no email link ?
may aaccount is hack pelzzz help
@coc_haker1299
orignal name is ishwar_makwana_1
Mine is still hacked and I filled out many forms and they just send me a link to the help center and don’t even talk to me. What can I do?
my instagram was hacked my username is flowless_._ I don’t remember the email of password linked to email CAn you please help me
My Account was hacked at 400K followers my original account Chairmanhkn was changed to kf.zl They changed my email associated with the account. if anyone can help me get my account back i’m willing to pay.
Hi my instagram was recently hacked and email associated with it.
My name was bibinalias999, email is bibinalias999@gmail.com
hacked to this email fhrd18@mail.ru ( name also changed to Marilou Hegmann). I think its a russian hacker.
How to deactivate or block that account.
My Account was hacked at 172k followers my original account Bunashopaholic was changed to tiktokmuzikgeli. They changed my email associated with the account. if anyone can help me get my account back i’m willing to pay.
my acct was hacked- person changed the username and email
Hello- the link you posted does not take you to a place to tell you case. My account was hacked and I can’t even figure out how to report it. Please help me if you can!
Any and everything would be extremely helpful!
Thank you for your helpful post…….
Just wanted to report some hacker o.o I manage to get back account thanks to phone access , the guy changed my email , name, photo and tried to change phone number I guess he failed with that ~~
coesolotu1986@mail.ru elvinmartino
My account is hacked by an .Russia email help
Thanks for giving me a good idea .
Where i can email instagram. Because report function from ut app doesnt help me at all. Please help me. My mother account was hacked and they ask money to her friend
They changed my email adress on instagram and the password of instagram. Can you help me?
The exact same thing has happened to me! Please help me! gavin__7201_walton is the name the hacker changed my account to, but still have my pictures.
The same Is happeneing to me! I keep looking into different ways to gain access but nothing is working! I’ve followed all the “SUPPORTED HELP” questions, and nothing works. I NEVER received an email telling me of my information being changed. I’ve went to I don’t know how many blogs looking for answers. And I’ve sent 4-5 detailed descriptions of my situation, with no responses from Instagram. In order to keep track of my old account I had to make a new one, thankfully I found my old one by following a hashtag I placed on some of them. I need help 🙁
The exact same thing just happened to me. I’m always logged in to instagram with my phone. But when I went in I was logged out. When I I tried logging in it said my username was not connected to an account. I then tried logging in using my email and my phone number but it said the same thing. Neither one was connected to an account. I followed the steps in the help center using the other username but when it went to retreive the password it was sent to a completely different email from mine. I’ve tried the instagram support email but it replied back saying something along the lines that they dont support that channel to use the help center. Ive reported it but it just has me fill out feedback forms on my experience with my problem. Ive made a new account but at this point I just want my old account taken down. Please Please help
The exact same thing just happened to me. I’m always logged in to instagram with my phone. But when I went in I was logged out. When I I tried logging in it said my username was not connected to an account. I then tried logging in using my email and my phone number but it said the same thing. Neither one was connected to an account. I followed the steps in the help center using the other username but when it went to retreive the password it was sent to a completely different email from mine. I’ve tried the instagram support email but it replied back saying something along the lines that they dont support that channel to use the help center. Ive reported it but it just has me fill out feedback forms on my experience with my problem. Ive made a new account but at this point I just want my old account taken down. Please Please help
my instragram id is – sameiersony and email addrs is samir.soni2012@yahoo.com.
My account got hacked. Could you please help me get it back?
Hello . I can recover your instagram account.
DM me @grayhacker on instagram
Thank you so much for giving this important information. It will be very helpful for me.
Great and informative article and this is very important and really worth for me and I am going to implement this method on my Instagram account, you have explained it very clearly. thanking you.