I've Had Several (failed) Attempts To Hack My Facebook Account.

Discussion in 'Software' started by Joe Bonnar, Dec 14, 2023.

  1. Joe Bonnar

    Joe Bonnar Private E-2

    I'm looking for security advice.

    Somebody is trying to hack my FB account. I've gotten several email alerts from FB giving me a code to use to change my password. I believe they are legitimate FB emails, but have treated them as possible phishes.
    My FB password is new, controlled by a password manager, and is over 30 characters long, including special characters such as + , ^, and $. I have 2FA enabled, and I get login alerts.

    Because I believe the only way to hack my account is to hack my email first, I've made sure to change my email password recently to another one similar in strength to the FB password. I also have 2FA on the email provider.

    Are there any other steps I should take to protect my account?
     
  2. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Hi, it sounds like you have been very proactive as far as securing both your FB and your email. Based on what you've said about your password and your 2 step login being enabled, I don't think anyone is going to be getting through to either of them. At this point, other than deleting your FB, I don't think there is anything else you can do. To see if it's just a scam email, you could also change the email address you have linked to your FB if you have a secondary one (or create a gmail account or something for it). If you don't continue to get the emails to change your password with a new email, it's just a scam. Either way, my opinion is you should be safe.
     
    LJR likes this.
  3. Maxwell

    Maxwell Folgers

    I agree with Laura, you should be OK.

    However, a few other things you could also do (PS always check any links (e.g. hover over the link) before you click them so that you don't go to a bogus website that enables access or malware) :
    1. Password Manager protection, add 2FA to protect that and use non-trivial password for that, e.g., 3 random words technique (not battery-horse-staple!)
    2. Use Facebook Protect as additional security: Turn on Facebook Protect | Facebook Help Centre
    3. Check your other linked accounts to Facebook are legit and not bogus that may be used for access.
    4. Look out for fake Facebook account that look similar to yours and report those: Hacked and fake accounts | Facebook Help Centre
    5. Read Keeping Your Account Secure | Facebook Help Centre especially: Keep your Facebook account secure | Facebook Help Centre
     
    Joe Bonnar and LauraR like this.
  4. Joe Bonnar

    Joe Bonnar Private E-2


    I have followed your suggestions, and thank you.

    NOW, however, I found that there have been over 100 attempts (mostly from China) to hack into my microsoft account. (30 digit password, recent, 2FA.) So there is that.
    In addition, when I logged into Xfinity I found that there was a data breach, that my username and hashed password were exposed, and promptly changed my password THERE as well.
    Ho Ho Holy Heck. :)
     
  5. Maxwell

    Maxwell Folgers

    It seems that you are facing a lot of hacking attempts on your other accounts as well. This is very concerning and I hope you can protect yourself from these cyberattacks. Here are some steps you can take to prevent hacking attempts on your Microsoft account1:
    • Use the Microsoft Authenticator app to sign in without a password. This app generates a unique code or sends a notification to your phone that you can use to verify your identity. This way, you don’t need to use a password to sign in.
    • You can check you e-mails and passwords that you need to change at Have I Been PWNed.
    • Make sure you never use the same password for each account you have.
     
    Joe Bonnar likes this.
  6. Joe Bonnar

    Joe Bonnar Private E-2

    Good advice, thank you. :)
    It's frustrating, but it is an opportunity for me to strengthen my online security and I'm doing just that.
     

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