Click on a random link that you thought was safe, giving access to your account to a site that you thought was a legitimate one or anything similar to that, and your Twitter account gets compromised. This is actually how hackers get into your account. Not through any other means but by exploiting your mistake of giving access to a fake link or site.
How to know Your Twitter has been Hacked?
If your friends inform you that they have been receiving spam links from your account, then the chances are that you have been hacked. Hacked accounts sent out messages or posts informing their followers about a photo, or a product online. But if you click on that link and allow access, that will be the end of your safety from hackers.
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However, nowadays, people are aware of these spam links, and they actually mail the person or inform them in any other way that their account has been compromised. That could help a lot to fight against hackers as a whole. So if you notice someone posting spam links, then inform that person about this development immediately so that he can reset his account.
How to avoid getting hacked?
There are a number of basic measures you can take to safeguard yourself.
- You can use secure passwords that are complicated and really unique, something that can only be known to you.
- Setup dual verification of your Twitter account, which, along with log in requires access through a mobile device too.
- Beware of shortened links from TinyURL, bitly, and so as they mask out the actual address, and you will never know what you are getting into when you click these links you receive on Twitter.
- If the URL looks fishy and does not really make sense, chances are its a spam link. Avoid clicking on it by all means.
- Beware of phishing, where links advertise them to be something else, but in reality, it leads to something else entirely.
- Be careful when you are using a public computer or a public WiFi network as it is easily accessible by many. Using a VPN will be ideal in this situation.
What to do when your Twitter account gets hacked?
It is not always celebrities who end up being a victim of a Twitter hack. Sometimes even a nobody can get hacked. It is because hackers don’t always have the intention of exploiting an account to post random stuff, like some of them do with celebrity accounts. Sometimes they are just looking to get access to private information and sell it over to an organization at cheap rates. This is actually very common, and even big companies like Facebook are guilty of doing something like this. So what can you do once your account is compromised? How do you restore it?
If you can still log in:
- Change your password right away.
- Did Twitter account compromise? Make sure that the email address associated with your account has not changed. If the email is changed to the hacker’s liking, then changing the password won’t make a difference as the password can be changed again using the email address associated with the account.
- Revoke access to any third-party app that is associated with your account. Changing passwords does not change your account’s access by third-party apps, so you have to manually revoke the access once you log in to your account again.
- Setup the two-step verification, which, along with normal log, requires access through a mobile device too.
- Inform everyone affected about what happened to you and apologize. Ask them not to open any link sent out to them during the tenure when your account was hacked.
If you can’t log in:
If you are unable to log in, then try resetting your account’s password. However, there is a chance that your email address associated with that account is also changed. In that case, a password reset won’t be possible.
If your email and password, both have been changed then you have to fill out the Twitter hacked account form. To open up the form, click this link. Once you have filled up the form, wait for Twitter’s team to get back to you. Chances are you will get access to your account again.
Contact Support if you still require assistance
If you still can’t log in, contact us by submitting a Support request. Please choose the “Hacked account” from the list of options. Be sure to use the email address you associated with the hacked Twitter account; we’ll then send additional information and instructions to that email address. Include both your username and the date you last had access to your account.
Learn more about what you can do if you’ve lost access to the email account associated with your Twitter account.
Once you do get access to your account, make sure to take the precautionary measures in the future so that this does not happen ever again to you.
My account is hacked account user @Hunterg901