I Got Hacked!

I have great friends. I love them simply because they are better than me. And I try to keep in touch with most of them using social media. Most of my social media accounts were created almost during the time when they were accessible to the public. I used my old Yahoo email account to create them and forgot all about it. I realized that my Yahoo mail account was hacked couple of years ago and I couldn't access it simply because it is hackers' friendly. I can't remember the last time I accessed that account and it had some sort of sentimental value because it is the first account I created, probably in 2001.

Then today, 11th of March 2023, I was caught off guard by an Instagram message, which I assumed, was sent by my life-long friend from school. So the guy pretending to be my friend asked me to send a message that would be sent to me from Facebook to retrieve his account. Well now you know where this story is going right? Yes well, when I responded to this imposter, my Instagram account was immediately hacked. I was actually worried that this knucklehead would use my profile to get through to my friends and some how steal from them. I was heartbroken because I use my Instagram as a digital album to remember moments and this mother-lover managed to take that away from me. Thevuni and I did whatever we could to retrieve my account. Actually since she was the very objective one at that time, she managed to find a solution. And I'm going to share some of the options you have if this happens to you,

1. Understand the situation - Usually when you are hacked, the hacker would change email and the password or if you have an old email like I did, then you realize that you can't access your own email. In this scenario against all odds - you should know that you can still find a way get your account back. Simply understand your situation and trust that you can get it back.
2. Instagram will help you - Use the Instagram log in interface to type your user name and try to get a security code if either your email or phone number is still available. If that doesn't work, then you can go to Get Support option. This option allow you to submit a working email address and then a selfie-video to identify or recognize your face with the recent pictures you've posted on Instagram (I sincerely hope you have your own pictures on your Instagram account!). Then you'll receive a email message from Instagram stating that they received the video and will help you soon.
3. Redemption song - Well Instagram says that they would take few business days but for me those guys helped me in couple of hours sending me a link to change the password and then a security code to log in to the account. These are the steps you need to follow,

• Select the Reset password link given
• Enter your new password
• Select the backup codes link instead of entering a 6-digit code
• Enter this 8-digit security code to log back in

Well that's about it folks, now that I've found my way back into my Instagram profile, I made sure that the security is tight. I enhanced the security level and made sure that I provided a working email account this time. And after all that drama in the morning, I managed to have a small Burgher nap to settle down, listening to the thunder and white-noise - the best combo to keep away the hackers! well.. may be not!