My Instagram was taken over, how do I get it back safely
Use the free tool — Hacked Help
This happens to smart people every day
Someone got into your Instagram. Maybe they changed the password, the email, or the phone number on the account. That is frightening, but most of this is fixable if you act in the next hour, in the right order.
Do this first (next 15 minutes)
- Check the email address linked to your Instagram account. If that email is also compromised, this is the real emergency — attackers often plant forwarding rules or app passwords in a hacked email inbox to keep access even after you change the password. Remove any forwarding rule and any app password you did not create, yourself.
- Use Instagram's own in-app "get help logging in" or "report a hacked account" option to start recovery. Do this directly through Instagram — never through a search-result link or a message that offers to "recover your account for you."
- Never pay any "account recovery service." These are almost always scams. There is no shortcut around Instagram's own process.
Within the hour
- If you also gave up a one-time code, your password, or your Social Security number to whoever did this, treat it as identity theft, not just a social-media problem — see the cleanup steps below.
- If any money moved — by wire, gift card, or a payment you didn't authorize — call the number printed on your card, never a number from a text or email, and file a report at ic3.gov right away. Reversals are only sometimes possible, and only when reported fast.
- Change the password on any other account that shared the same password as your Instagram or your email.
Cleanup (next few days)
- If you gave up a one-time code or your Social Security number, go to IdentityTheft.gov. It is the FTC's official recovery-plan generator, and it creates the affidavit banks accept.
- Freeze your credit at all three bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It's free and takes minutes. See the FTC credit freeze guide.
- Once you're back into Instagram, check your connected apps and active login sessions and remove anything you don't recognize.
What we don't know yet
We don't know your exact case — whether this is just Instagram, or your email too, or whether money or your SSN were involved. That changes the order of steps. This page is general guidance, not legal or financial advice; confirm details with the platform, your bank, or a professional if you're not sure.
What to do next
Describe what actually happened, in your own words — the free tool reads your own situation and gives you the exact sequence, with the official links, in the right order for your case. Nothing you type is stored.
Hacked Help provides general security guidance; it can be wrong and it is not legal or financial advice. For active theft, work directly with your bank and law enforcement. Nothing you type is stored.