Ever been HACKED on Facebook?

19th May 2022

Sadly, many Facebook users are going to get hacked at some point – you know the drill, your friends suddenly receive a message you didn’t send, posts are showing up that you didn’t post, or you’re locked out of your account. Whilst getting hacked is worrying, and annoying, don’t panic. In this mini blog, we’ll show you what to do if you do get hacked, and how to add another level of security to help prevent it.

But first – if you’ve been hacked, it’s probably your fault.

OK, that’s a little unfair, but Facebook hacking usually happens because you’ve given an app permission to access your account. Remember that time you logged in with Facebook instead of creating a password?

Now we’ve got that straight, let’s start removing those ‘questionable’ apps, and a few others that no longer need access to your account.

On desktop

Select Settings & Privacy > Settings

Finally, select Apps & Websites from the list on the left hand side.

You’ll now see a list of all the Apps you’ve allowed to access your account. Go through the list and remove any you don’t use or don’t recognise. Most of these Apps will be legitimate, but if you’re not using them, why allow them access to your account?

On Android and iOS

If you’d prefer to get rid of suspect Apps on your phone, follow these simple instructions.

Open your Facebook App then tap the Menu button (on Android it’s in the top right of the screen and on iOS it’s in the bottom right.

Now scroll down to Settings & Privacy > Settings

In Settings select Apps and Websites

You’ll now see a list of Apps that have access to your account. Scroll through and start deleting or keeping.

What if you’re locked out of your account?

Don’t panic. It can be scary to be locked out of your Facebook account, but it can easily be rectified by heading over to Facebooks ‘Hacked’ page at facebook.com/hacked.

They’ll ask you a few simple questions before allowing you to regain access.

Once you are back in, it’s worth changing your password – just in case.

How to tighten up security on your Facebook account

By following the steps above, your Facebook account will be more secure, but if you really want to double down on security, it’s time to set up two-factor authentication. This simply means, if an App wants permission to access your account they’ll have to go through you.

Here’s how to set it up:

Open Facebook on your desktop and click the downward arrow in the top right of the screen.

Select Settings & Privacy > Settings > Security and Logins

From this page scroll down and select Use two-factor authentication

You’ll then see two options, you can either use a third-party App, or select the other option on the right which will mean you’ll get a text with an authentication code if an App wants permission to access your account.

If you found this short article helpful, we'd love it if you gave it a share to let others know what to do if their Facebook account gets hacked.