My account was hacked: where are the official recovery links?

If someone has taken over one of your accounts, start from that platform’s own recovery page, listed at the top of this page, and do it from a phone or computer you normally use and trust. If more than one account is affected, recover your email first: whoever controls it can reset the passwords of almost everything else. You do not need to pay anyone, and you should not call support numbers found in search results.

Losing an account is stressful, and it happens to careful people too. The steps below are the ones the platforms and national agencies give.

Do this now

1. Use a device you trust. If you think your computer has a virus, Microsoft advises running a full security scan before you change the password. For the recovery itself, Google suggests a phone or computer where you usually sign in, in a place you usually sign in from, such as home or work.
2. Recover your email first. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) explains that someone who controls your email can request password resets for your other accounts and lock you out of them.
3. Change the password and sign out everywhere else. The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) says to change the password of the hacked account and of any account that used the same password, because criminals try a stolen password on other accounts. Then log out all devices and apps that may still be signed in.
4. Turn on two-step verification. It asks for a code or a tap on your phone as well as the password, so a stolen password is not enough on its own. The NCSC recommends it on important accounts like email and banking.
5. Warn your contacts. Tell them you were hacked, and ask them not to click links from you and to ignore requests for help or money, as the FTC advises.
6. Check your bank and payment apps if a card was saved. Look for purchases and transfers you did not make, and contact your bank through its official website, or type its address into your browser yourself (NCSC). Google advises contacting your bank if you had banking details saved in your account, for example in Google Pay or Chrome. If money is gone, follow the first 30 minutes after a scam.
7. Ignore anyone who offers to recover the account for you. The reasons are below.

How can I tell my account was taken?

The signs the platforms and agencies list are much the same:

• Your password no longer works, or you cannot log in at all (FTC, Apple).
• You get notices about a password, email or phone change you did not make, or about a sign-in from a device or place you do not recognize (FTC, Apple).
• A two-factor code arrives that you did not ask for (Apple).
• Friends receive odd messages, links or requests for money from you (FTC).
• You find sent emails you did not write, emails disappear, or you stop receiving email (Google).
• Purchases or money transfers you did not make (NCSC).

One message looks like a hack but usually is not: an email that claims someone filmed you through your webcam, quotes one of your passwords and demands payment, often in Bitcoin. The NCSC says the sender is guessing and the password most likely comes from an old data breach. Do not reply or pay. If it is a password you still use, change it at once.

Why is there no number to call?

Because most platforms do not recover hacked accounts by phone. Google writes that “you can’t call Google for help to sign into your account”, and that it does not work with any service that claims to provide account or password support. For Gmail, Google adds that it does not give phone support and does not charge to recover an account.

Where a person is available, they still cannot hand the account back. Microsoft’s sign-in helper can offer the chance to talk to an agent, but Microsoft says its support agents are not allowed to send password reset links or change account details. Apple has official support channels, but Apple Support cannot shorten the waiting period of account recovery. Each platform in the list at the top of this page has a line on what its own help pages say about phone or human help.

The recovery scam

This is where many people get caught a second time:

• Fake support numbers. The FTC warns that scammers try to get their websites into online search results for tech support, hoping you will call the number. Use the links at the top of this page, or type the platform’s address yourself.
• Calls and messages “from the platform”. Apple says it will never ask for your password, device passcode or two-factor code, and never asks you to turn off a security feature; if someone calls claiming to be Apple, hang up. Google says it never asks for your password or verification codes by email, phone call or message.
• “Recovery experts” who ask for a fee. If the hack also cost you money, the FTC warns: “Never pay upfront for a refund or help with a refund.” The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says it does not work with law firms or crypto services to recover money and will never contact you directly for information or money.

What if recovery does not work?

Keep going through the official page. The platforms explain why a first “no” is not the end:

• Google. In its recovery steps there is no limit to the number of attempts and wrong guesses do not throw you out. If you recently changed your recovery details, the change can take up to 7 days to work, so try again in a few days. Its tips: answer as many questions as you can, take your best guess rather than skipping, and check your spam folder for an email titled “Your Google support inquiry”.
• Microsoft. The account recovery form asks questions only you can answer, such as old passwords, contacts and the exact subject lines of your emails, and needs a working email address you can read, even a friend’s. Microsoft replies within 24 hours, and you can try up to twice a day. If you had two-step verification on and have lost every way to receive a code, Microsoft says it cannot help.
• Apple. If you cannot reset the password, account recovery starts at iforgot.apple.com. A confirmation with the expected date arrives within 72 hours, and the wait can last several days or longer. Do not send a second request, and read Apple’s notes on your devices: using one signed in to the account can cancel the request.

If it truly cannot be recovered, the NCSC’s last resort is a new account. Give your contacts the new details, tell them the old account is abandoned, and update your bank, utility and shopping accounts with the new address.

What should I check once I am back in?

The intruder may have left a way back in. These are the checks the platforms and agencies recommend:

• Devices and sessions. Sign out of all other devices (FTC). Remove any device you do not recognize: in Google, under Your devices; for Apple, under Devices on account.apple.com (Apple).
• Recovery email and phone. Make sure every email address and phone number on the account is yours (FTC). Apple also suggests asking your mobile carrier to confirm that SMS forwarding has not been set up on your number.
• Two-step verification. On, and with methods that are yours. Google lists two-step verification turned on or off, or its methods changed, without your knowledge among the warning signs.
• Apps with access. Google asks you to review the apps with access to your account; Microsoft points to connected accounts.
• Email rules. Delete forwarding rules and filters you did not create (NCSC, FTC). In Gmail, Google also lists mail delegation, automatic forwarding, IMAP or POP access and the vacation reply; Microsoft names forwarding and automatic replies, and says it has reset some settings after a hack.
• What was sent in your name. Check sent and deleted folders, and on social media look for posts, messages or new friends you do not recognize (FTC).
• Other accounts. Change the password anywhere you used the same one (NCSC). Google adds the sites where you sign in with that email address.
• Updates. Install app and device updates, and turn on automatic updates if available (NCSC).

Where do I report it?

Report it first to the platform, through the pages at the top of this one. Go to the police as well when money was taken, when someone is using your identity, or when someone threatens you or demands money.

If you are in Italy

The Polizia Postale e per la Sicurezza Cibernetica advises that if you cannot reset the password because the email and phone number have been changed, you start the stolen-account procedure in the platform’s help center and go to any police office to file a formal complaint (denuncia). Its online Segnala online form is for reports and does not replace a complaint. In an emergency, call 112 or 113.

If you are in the UK

If you lost money, tell your bank and report it to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud), the national service that replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025, at reportfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, the NCSC says to call the police on 101. If you paid the sender of a blackmail email like the one described above, the NCSC says to report it to your local police on 101.

If you are in the US

Report a scam to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, as the FTC advises. If someone used your personal information, the FTC sends you to IdentityTheft.gov for a free recovery plan. Crimes that happened online can also be reported to the IC3 at ic3.gov.

Elsewhere

Report to the platform and to the police of your country. The official channels in 36 countries are in where to report a scam.

Where to go next

• Someone took over my WhatsApp gives the steps to get WhatsApp back, with the link of each one.
• I’ve been scammed: what to do in the first 30 minutes covers the bank, cards and evidence if the hack cost you money.
• Where to report a scam lists the official police and fraud channels in 36 countries.
• Is this text a scam? shows how fake messages steal passwords and codes, and what to do if you clicked.

Common questions

My account was hacked, what do I do?

Open the platform's own recovery page, listed at the top of this page, from a phone or computer you normally use. If you get back in, change the password, sign out of all other devices and turn on two-step verification. Then warn your contacts and check your bank if a card was saved in the account. Do not call numbers found in search results and do not pay anyone who offers to recover it.

My email was hacked, what do I do?

Recover the email account first, because whoever controls it can reset the passwords of your other accounts, as the FTC explains. Once you are back in, look for forwarding rules and filters you did not create and delete them, change the password of every account that used the same one, and sign out of all other devices. Then turn on two-step verification and warn your contacts.

Gmail hacked and password changed: how do I recover it?

Use Google's account recovery page, linked at the top of this page, and answer the questions as best you can, ideally from a device and a place where you usually sign in. Google says wrong guesses do not throw you out of the process and there is no limit on attempts. Google does not offer recovery by phone and does not work with any service that claims to recover accounts.

Microsoft account hacked and recovery email changed: what now?

Use Microsoft's account recovery form, linked at the top of this page. It asks questions only you can answer, such as old passwords, contacts and email subject lines, and it needs a working email address you can read, even a friend's. Microsoft says it answers within 24 hours and you can try up to twice a day. Its support agents cannot reset the password or change account details for you.

Apple ID hacked: who do I call?

Start online: if you cannot reset the password of your Apple Account, Apple's account recovery begins at iforgot.apple.com and can take several days or longer, a wait that Apple Support cannot shorten. Apple says it never asks for your password or two-factor codes, so hang up on anyone who calls claiming to be Apple. If you need Apple, contact it through its official support channels yourself.

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Topics: account recovery, everyday questions