What do I do if my online account has been hacked?

October 1, 2013

Your online webmail or social networking account can be hijacked (taken over by an unauthorized individual) in a variety of ways. If one of your accounts becomes hacked, you may be locked out of access to your own account. That’s because the unauthorized user is likely to change your password. They may then use your account to send spam, impersonate you, or otherwise commit unlawful activities.

If the unauthorized user has not changed your password, the solution is simple – just change your password to one that the impersonator will not know. However, if someone has taken over your account entirely and changed your password, it can be difficult to recover. Generally, there is no phone number that you can call to correct the problem.
Normally, you will need to prove that the account is yours before a provider will restore your access. This process will vary depending upon the particular site that has been hacked.

These are the account recovery pages for several popular sites:
•    Gmail
•    Hotmail
•    Yahoo Mail
•    Facebook
•    Twitter

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