You’re afraid bad things will happen because someone got into your email. Don’t stress out; we’re here to help. Do something right now to lessen the damage the hacking event caused.
8 Things To Do If Your Email Is Hacked
Recover Your Account
Get back into your email account by doing what you need to do. Check to see if someone has changed your password before you try to get in. After making sure you can join, change the login information you used.
To get back into your account, find the pages that let you do that. If you still can’t get in, go to the choices. The link might say “forgot password” or “need help.” If you have one of these email accounts, the links below will take you to it.
- Google (Gmail)
- Yahoo! Mail
- Outlook.com
There are different ways to get back into hacked email accounts at each business. Yes, you can do that if you answer your protection questions. You could also get a link to change your password from someone else’s email address. You can also ask for a new verification code to be sent to the phone number you used to create the account.
There are some ways you might not be able to get back into your email account if someone changes your information. There may be more than one way to get back into your email account. Google will ask you about when you set up your Gmail account, the email names of people you talk to a lot, and what other Google products you use to make sure you are the owner of your account.
Also, try calling customer service. Some email service providers may have customer help for paid users. You might not be able to get help here with your free email account. You might need to join a support page or group to get help.
Replace Your Old Password
You should be able to get to your email again now, but you’re not done yet. The hacker should not be able to get into your account again. Your new password should be longer and stronger than the old one. Don’t use the secret if you know it. Your password should have a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols to make it hard to guess. If that’s too hard, use a password manager to do it for you. If you can, use two-factor login to make things even better.
Check Your Account Settings For Suspicious Changes
Hackers can use the useful parts of your email account to listen in on your chats or send spam and fake links from it. When you’re done, you should undo any changes you made to your email that don’t make sense. Pay close attention to how these email tools are set up:
- Messages sent automatically
- Vacation or out-of-office messages
- Email signatures
- Mail delegation (giving others access to your inbox)
Update Your Recovery Information
This is the same reason you should change your password: so that hackers can’t use your old password or other details to get into your account. Hackers can get back into your account without your permission if they have the same information they need from the last time you logged in. Still, this is a big step.
Make up a secret question and answer that only you know. Too many people ask what your dad’s name is, what your favorite food is, and what your pet’s name is. Social networks and your friends make it easy for hackers to learn about you. In a hurry, pick a well-known question with a clear wrong answer that has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Pick the name “snickerdoodles” for your first car.
You can get back into your account with a different email address and cell phone number. See if these still work. Get rid of anything the hacker added that doesn’t make sense.
Check Your Other Online Accounts
People may have used this email address to join online banks, social networks, and other sites. They may have used the email address you gave them to ask for new passwords for all of these accounts. However, you haven’t seen anything fishy about them, you should change their passwords and improve their security.
Check all of the important accounts that are related. How do you make a domino chain? The bad guys only need one account to get into all of yours. It’s likely that your email address is also on your phone and computer. If that’s the case, see if they’ve been hacked.
Read Also: 7 Ways to Boost Your WiFi Signal 2025
Inform Your Contacts That You’ve Been Hacked
This step is optional, but it would be nice if you did it. He or she called people at work and sent fake texts to friends and family. When your friends hear that someone got into your account, they should be on the lookout for strange texts.
Recover Your Backup, Or Start One
Hackers might leave most of your account alone, though, so as not to draw too much attention to themselves. They can do whatever they want. That means your emails and address book are still there, even if someone got into them and did something useful.
If they make a copy of your contacts and texts and then delete them, you can get them back. Not having an extra? After that, make a new one in case someone tries to hack your email again and deletes all of your messages. Also, check with your email service to see if they can help you get your files back. It’s possible that they will ask you to fill out a form and wait for review. The links below will let you get back emails that were taken down from the following websites:
- Google (Gmail)
- Yahoo! Mail
- Outlook.com
Prevent Further Hacking Attempts
Protect yourself from the internet at all times. This lesson is very important. You can be sure that someone will try to get into your account again at some point. The first thing that can stop this is your password. A lot of people have already said that it should be very long and have many letters, numbers, and symbols. Don’t use the same password for more than one account either. People who want to record your password or send you fake texts should not have it.
