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If the first thing you do when you get online in the morning is check one or more of your social media accounts, you’re not alone. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other accounts like these are our lifeline to the world in many cases, not to mention platforms to promote business endeavors and other important announcements. But hackers know how much time we spend on these sites and how much personal information we often dole out (sometimes without even realizing it). And that’s why it’s crucial to keep aware of the signs that something isn’t right with your account so that you can address them ASAP. Tanay Sankhe, a Web Developer/Designer, Content Marketer, and Founder of smartgadgetpick.com, spoke to SHEFinds.com about the five scary ways to know if your social media accounts have been hacked.
Receiving A Login Email From A Different Country
When Sankhe’s Instagram was hacked, she said this was one of the first signs she noticed. “I received an email from Instagram that said ‘We noticed a new login’ with the country's name from where the login took place,” Sankhe says.
Random Images Posting On Your Feed
You certainly didn’t post that weird image on your feed, so how did it get there? More than likely, the culprit was a hacker that accessed your account. “[The] hacker started to post inappropriate and offensive pictures in my Instagram feed as well as stories,” Sankhe says.
Turn Down Your Brightness Setting
The brightness setting on your phone can be the root cause of so much of your battery and charging issues. One tip that experts will always recommend to help your phone charge more efficiently — and to keep your phone charged for longer — is to turn your brightness as far down as you can tolerate. Simply go to Settings > Display & Brightness and toggle the brightness setting down. You can also adjust “night shift” to the hours you choose and this will lower the brightness during those times.
Strange Ads
Every time you search for something on Google or within a shopping app, you’ll notice that it creepily appears on your Facebook page. But if you start seeing the most random ads for products you’ve never considered pop up on your socials, Sankhe says this is another sign that you’ve been hacked.
Getting Logged Out Of Your Account
“After observing all the chaotic activities happening across my account, I was logged out of Instagram from my mobile as well as the laptop,” Sankhe says. “And at that moment, I knew that my account was hacked.”
So you suspect you’ve been hacked — next come the two words you’re waiting to hear: “now what?” Don’t panic. According to Sankhe, these are the immediate steps taken to deal with a potential hacking situation:
**Try changing the account's password as soon as possible.
**If you successfully changed the password, turn on the Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) login method.
**If you think you are losing your account, contact the respective social media via email and they might be able to help you.
