Facebook Hacked and Email or Phone Changed? Practical Recovery Steps

What likely happened

When a Facebook account is hacked and the email or phone number is changed, the attacker may be trying to cut off normal recovery. They may also use the account to message friends, run scams, impersonate you, access connected pages, or damage reputation.

Do not assume the problem starts with Facebook. The attacker may have used a reused password, a compromised email account, a stolen session, a phishing page, or weak recovery settings.

What to try first

Start with Facebook's official hacked-account process. Use a trusted device and avoid random recovery services or people promising guaranteed account return.

Check your email for messages from Facebook about changes. Some platforms provide a limited-time way to reverse an email or password change from those alerts.

• Use the official Facebook hacked account page.
• Search your email for recent Facebook security notifications.
• Try recovery from a device and location you used before.
• Avoid paying strangers who promise guaranteed recovery.

Secure email account first

If the email account tied to Facebook is compromised, Facebook recovery will remain fragile. Secure the email account first: password, MFA, recovery paths, sessions, forwarding rules, filters, and connected apps.

If your email and Facebook reused the same password, assume other accounts may also be exposed. Use a password manager to replace reused passwords with unique ones.

Check password reuse and recovery paths

Social accounts often share recovery paths with email, phone numbers, cloud accounts, and old devices. Clean those up before assuming the attacker cannot return.

Review recovery email addresses, phone numbers, trusted devices, authenticator apps, backup codes, and connected Instagram or business pages.

Warn friends, followers, and page admins

If the account is sending suspicious messages, warn people using another trusted channel. Tell them not to click links, send money, buy gift cards, share codes, or accept payment-change requests from the compromised account.

If you manage business pages, ad accounts, groups, or creator channels, let other admins know. Review page roles and payment settings when you regain access.

For creators and public-facing people

For creators, streamers, athletes, executives, and public-facing local figures, social account takeover is not only inconvenient. It can affect reputation, business income, sponsorships, impersonation risk, and personal safety.

The work should include email security, account recovery paths, phone-number risk, manager or assistant access, privacy settings, impersonation reporting, and a plan for communicating with followers if something happens.