Protect yourself against social media account hacking

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Social media accounts play an important role in many people’s day-to-day lives… and they are truly a lifeline for small businesses and organizations. When someone hacks your account, the results can be devastating.

According to FBI partners at the Federal Trade Commission, here are some signs that someone has hacked your social media account:

• You can’t log into your account.
• Your account has posts that you didn’t make.
• Friends and family are getting messages you didn’t send.

If you are worried about your email account’s security, here are some steps to take:

• Update your security software, run a scan, and delete any possible malware on your devices.
• If you can get into your account, change your password. Also change any similar passwords on any other accounts. Consider using a passphrase, which is simply a string of unrelated (but easy to remember) words to increase the length of the phrase.
• Use multi-factor authentication which means that you set the account to require any user to use two or more credentials when logging in. For instance, you would need a password plus a PIN or a smart card plus a biometric scan.
• If you can’t access your account, check with the social media platform to see what steps you must take to reclaim your account.

Finally, if you are hacked, make sure to let your friends and followers know so they don’t also fall victim to your bad luck.

If you are the victim of online fraud, you should report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or call your local FBI office.