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! 🙂
A huge shout out to Instagram/Facebook support for handling my hacked instagram account so promptly. One email with supporting documentation fixed it.
The welcome email when the account is created is important. Save those!!
They deactivated my account within 2 hours.
Hi
My user I’d is chetnachavan & my istagram account has been hacked. Unable to access as the email address is been changed also unlinked to my FB account so please request you to delete the account
Same exact experience just happened to me.
My second Instagram was just stolen within the last hour. 2 factor authentication was no help. I got notifications with security codes, that I couldn’t enter because my email was already replaced.
When my original IG account was hacked, I email some generic support but got a form email back saying they no longer use it.
So then I sent a Facebook message, which some people said had worked after I googled it. Yeah no. It’s been a week with no help.
I can’t change anything – including my password – if they changed the email AND the password at the same time. DUH!
What was the link that they sent you?
I am experiencing the same issue, some one has changed my email and my password to my account, I have found my old account but I don’t know how to get it back. If you could help guid me through that a little easier than the above one has laid out that would be great, I have contacted instragram and sent them my photo and such but no reply
Hello, can anybody tell me the email of customer service for instagram, my account was stoled. Pls reply!
My IG account was just hacked and they replaced the email address so I can’t change anything. I have found them on IG and know the username they are using but it doesn’t help because the email is changed. It’s my profile photo and everything! What do I do? I clicked the link you provided but I didn’t see a place to send a message to IG! Can someone send the link? Should I do this from a desktop? Or laptop?
My account eringreeneyes89 has been hacked and now I can’t retrieve it.. Please help me
WHERE DID YOU WRITE YOUR COMPLAININ THAT LINK ? My friend needs helpppppppppp I can’t see a message box or something like where did you write your report???
my instagram account has been hacked.
im not getting any support from them.
my email is linked to instagram & is hacked too, there for im stuck.
i cant access at all. im trying to give them my mobile number or another email & i cant.
im feel so frustrated & upset for not getting better support from instagram.
my account has been hacked and in order and there is no way i can get in touch with instagram, this is so fustrating there is no customer service we can call and email when we send it take hours or may be not at all to reply . What do i need to do? since instagram is linked with facebook they say i need to pay $100 to fix it . Has anyone heard of that
my acc has been hacked can u get my acc back ?? Diana_lol_132
I needed help recovering my account at Instagram after it was hacked
My page was hacked
i’m having that same problem! i just need the email!!
My account are not open .plz my account .
Someone is hacked my instagram account i know who is this person but i can’t do anything because he is from another country so what can i do also he deactivate account
Same thing happened to me. It keeps happening every time I change the email, username, password and the whole works. Now my acct has no followers, people following or any of my pictures anymore and idk what to do. I am freaking out. In the process of talking to IG, waiting for a response back. I want to be able to recover all 3 of those and (people I’m following, followers and all my pics) and have my acct like it originally was before the hacking. Do you have any suggestions? Can you help me out??
Sadly I’m not sure you can still retrieve your account detail specifics such as following and followers but there’s no harm in trying to ask them. If it keeps happening to you again and again, you may need to check the PC or mobile device that you’re using and see if it’s infected with something. Because what that means is the hackers keep on getting access to your account even if you change your details
Okay thank you. Have you or anyone else heard of the same problem mine extended to?
My Instagram account has been hacked for 3 days now. The hacker changed the phone number but my email is still associated with the account and now Instagram is asking me to confirm the phone number. How can I recover my Instagram account without a phone number. Please help my Instagram is @boujeemelll
I am a foodie person , i like food most , thanks for sharing this photos. I want to but them.
What do I do if my account is been hacked I can’t get it back at all
My Ex girlfriend stole my Instagram and password and the associated email. Also stole my Facebook and my Website. I have the original email transfer date and email to prove I changed my Instagram from e to the other. But I still can not get them to move on the proof
I am in the same boat. It seems they changed my username, email, etc. I need to get my account back with my followers. I can’t seem to find a way to get any Instagram support. Can anyone help!!
Thanks,
Vicki
My account has been hacked email and password changed how can I get it back I tired everything
Great read this exact thing happened to me yesterday no word from Instagram I’m freaking out they stole my account and followers and changed the name and changed email etc it’s crazy any other tips u can share
How did you reach instagram directly & know it was them because I am living this hell right now & am unsure if the person that hacked me is still the person emailing me as instagram.
My account has been hacked and I’m devastated as think I have lost all my precious photos. I can’t get help as my username and email details have been removed. Any ideas at all?
The best way to recover your Instagram account is just ask help from Instagram!
how can i send them my photoes?do you have the link? pleas telll me my acount hacked:(
How exact;y did you use ‘This page’ to create a case. All I see is writing and useless information.
my insta account was hacked n some deactivate my account can u help me plzz to get my account back .i have some important text there plzz help me.
hi, i have the same problem as you did. i still can’t log in :'( how can i have my account back? i have tried to reset my password like more than 10 times but still can’t log in. please help me :'(
Hello,
Please Please .. my business account on instagram ( 37K ) has been hacked and the hacker changed the email and user name and phone number
please help me getting it back.
contact me if you can help me getting it back
( Ameer.s.alattar@gmail.com )
Please help me getting it back
Regards,
Ameer
Yesterday I was temporari disable my insta a/c. Bt now it’s not open.
Yesterday I was temporari disable my a/c & now it’s not open.
My instagram account just got hacked. It asked me to put in my phone number and request a 6 digit code via text message. I don’t know how to email instagram to let them know so I can get it back. Can you please help. You will see my instagram fantasy_traveller photos have been deleted and I can’t get into my account. Any help would be amazing please thank you 🙂
I got hacked!! Im not able to log into my account and it wont let me log in or change anything through my email. I have complained about it and sent a request to Instagram twice and haven’t got anything in return! I really need my Instagram back! Does anyone know what to do?!
My instagram account was hacked id would like to get it back savage_salvino
Please recover my permanent deleted account ? please please please ?
Heyyy please dear please my permanent deleted account recover me please I am so so sad when my account is deleted
Hy someone my account is hacked please help me
mr___kailash my surname
I Need Help My Account Was Hacked I Got Scammed Please Help !! What is the link you used
I was scammed so my account got hacked I need help please what is the link you used
I was scammed and hacked please help
it doesn’t work when I clicked that link it just showed the picture of that form
I found the Instagram support number it is 1 855 590 0444 if anyone contacts them let me know if it works
Sir my account was Hacked
I opened an instagram account on Sunday and today, Wednesday, my email was changed to vity*tr*zhen*kow@mail.ru.
I used the profile name ‘gr8olive.’
I’m able to access the account because the email is not associated with the account and I’m not about to click on anything or type in my password.
Never again will try instagram.