Our Writer’s Instagram Got Hacked – Here’s What to Do If This Happens to You

As a travel professional or business, we use our social media platforms like a portfolio and/or an address book. It is part of our marketing and sales strategy, we accumulate contacts, videos, photos, content, followers, and we certainly don’t realize how much we care about our page … until it’s gone.

On the morning of March 8—ironically, on #WomensDay—I woke up and my Instagram account was gone. Poof! I tried to log in, but I was told that no account with my @username existed. I tried with my email—same result. I searched for myself on Google, and I was nowhere to be found. Panic set in quickly.

I noticed that at 5:05 AM, I had received an email from Instagram saying that my email associated with my account had been changed (not by me!). And as for their “If you didn’t change your email address, you can secure your account now” option— not helpful whatsoever – You click on it, and it takes you to your account… which had already been hacked. Thanks a lot!

At 5:09 AM—just three minutes later—I received an email from someone named Jerry Hall telling me he had hacked my account (oh, great) and demanding $600 USD to return it.

After panicking just enough, I switched to action mode. What were my options? I quickly realized… not many.

Meta has NO customer service—NADA, ZERO. The only way to talk to someone at Meta is to have a paid Verified account. But since my Instagram was gone, I had to go through Facebook. Luckily, I had a Pro page linked to my Instagram account (and I suggest you do too!) I got my Pro page Verified and was able to access Meta’s chat service. P.S. I waited six hours to get “someone on the line”.

When I finally got to chat with someone (forget about actually speaking to a human, that is not an option at Meta), they just asked me to summarize my situation. I sent all my screenshots—I had everything in hand. They told me, “Okay, I’ll send this to our security expert team, and we’ll get back to you in 5-7 business days.” (soooo long!)

The next day, I woke up to more “good” news – of course I’m being sarcatic. Meta had closed my case, deciding there was no issue after all. WHAT?! I’m 100% convinced they didn’t check anything. I was devastated. Now what?

Taking Matters into My Own Hands

Realizing Meta would be no help (I reopened a new chat on Sunday morning, and eight hours later, I was still waiting), I was completely helpless. Therefore, I started reading forums, blogs, and anything I could find, trying to track down someone who had gone through the same thing.

I tried EVERYTHING I could find. I don’t know exactly what worked because I tried so many things, but at some point in the evening, I selected the “I CAN’T LOG IN” option in Instagram’s Help section.

Important to know: EVERY OTHER OPTION JUST SENDS YOU IN CIRCLES—it’s hell. If you select “My account has been hacked” or “My account has been disabled,” it just gives you options like “Secure your account now.” But, again, another useless option from Meta, since I DON’T HAVE AN ACCOUNT ANYMORE!

The only thing that worked – when I chose the option “I Can’t Log In.” I tried using my username, but my dear hacker had changed it to something else, so that didn’t work. My email didn’t work either since it had been changed, also by the hacker. I was about to give up, but then I tried my phone number…

A very suspicious-looking account appeared. Looked like a bug or a scam, but I had nothing left to lose, so I clicked on it. It asked, “Forgot Password?” I clicked yes. Then, it sent a code to my phone (since that was the only option available at this stage). I was able to reset my password… and I got into my account!

The hacker had changed my profile picture to the Meta logo and my username to Meta Support, therefore when I saw it I thought it was anything but my account, they had also changed my email, but all my content was still there once I was able to log in.

I had to act fast before they noticed – and quickly changed my security settings:

1. I got my account Verified.
2. I enabled Two-Factor Authentication.
3. I added an extra layer of security with a third-party app (Duo Mobile and or Google Authentificator). Now, every time I log in, the app sends me a push notification. If you don’t have my phone in your hands, you can’t access my account.

Lessons Learned

Hackers are getting more creative and better equipped to steal accounts, and they target people with the most to lose—lots of followers, lots of content, and even worse, those who earn a living from their accounts.

This insane experience made me realize that Meta will not help you if anything happens to your account. It’s scary how no one at Meta ever responds. You’re 100% on your own if you have a problem.

Also, if your account is valuable to you, a simple password is NOT enough to protect it. A malicious person can take everything from you in the blink of an eye.

P.S. I considered paying my dear Jerry Hall multiple times, but I was afraid he wouldn’t return my account even if I paid him—or that he would keep demanding more money, knowing I would pay. I also read about many people who hired “professional hackers” to recover their accounts and ended up getting scammed twice.

The moral of the story: No one but YOU can recover your account. No one. And also: Secure it now!