My WhatsApp account was hacked. What now?

Steps for WhatsApp

1. 01

   Install WhatsApp again on your own phone and register your number. You will get a six-digit code by text. Entering it signs the attacker out.

2. 02

   Never give that six-digit code to anyone, including a contact who asks for it. Scammers use a hacked friend's account to ask for it.

3. 03

   If you are asked for a PIN you did not set, the attacker has turned on two-step verification. Wait seven days and you can reset it, or contact WhatsApp support through the Help Center.

4. 04

   Once in, turn on two-step verification with a PIN of your own, and check linked devices, signing out any you do not recognise.

5. 05

   Tell your contacts that anything sent from your number while you were locked out was not you.

Menus change often. If a screen looks different, follow the official page above.

Then, for every hacked account

1. Use a device you trust

   Do the recovery on your own phone or computer, on a network you trust. If you suspect a virus, do it from a different, clean device first.

2. Secure your email first

   Reset links and codes go to your email, so whoever controls it controls everything else. Change its password and turn on two-step verification before anything else.

3. Change the password everywhere you reused it

   Attackers try a leaked password on other services. Use a different password for each account, from a password manager if you can.

4. Turn on two-step verification the strong way

   Prefer an authenticator app or a security key to text-message codes, which can be intercepted.

5. Check what the attacker changed

   Look at the recovery email and phone number, forwarding rules, connected apps and the list of signed-in devices. Remove anything you do not recognise.

6. Warn the people who know you

   Tell your contacts that messages from you may not be from you, especially any asking for money, codes or a click.

7. If money or cards are involved, call your bank now

   Ask them to block the card and watch the account. Do not pay anyone who offers to get your account back for a fee: those offers are scams.

8. Report it

   Report it to the service, and, if you lost money or identity documents, to the police cybercrime or fraud service in your country.

Questions