My Instagram Was Hacked

Last Friday morning my Instagram account was hacked. No, I did not give my password out, yes my password was very random and not the source of the hack either. Yes, I had two factor authentication on. It did not protect my account. 

How It Happened

I received an email from a company I was in talks to collaborate with that had a link to clothing options to pick from. I clicked the link and it took me to Instagram where I saw a few outfit choices. I exited the app because I was going to revisit the choices later. Thirty seconds after exiting I received an email “Your Instagram account has been hacked. If you don’t respond in 3 hours to this email we will delete your page and all your content” 

I then asked the hackers what they wanted (knowing full well they wanted money). They asked for $350 (in Bitcoin). Yes, we paid it. It was the Friday before Labor Day weekend. My husband and I thought it was worth a shot so we could relax and enjoy the holiday. I’d always have wondered if I could have avoided this major hassle if we hadn’t paid them off.  They said they’d return my account in ten minutes. Nothing. Then they said five minutes. Nothing. After a few hours I knew “they” weren’t giving the account back to me.

Why It Matters

At this point some of you might be thing thinking, “big deal” but for a small business account it *is* a big deal. My brand recognition/notoriety isn’t like a big corporation or celebrity. If Kim K’s IG account gets deleted her millions of followers will follow her back right away if she has to start over. The same doesn’t apply for smaller business accounts.

I had spent the last two years building that account from about one thousand followers to twenty two thousand. This is not a small task. Gaining followers on Instagram has changed so much in the last few years. Having good content is just the beginning. Hours and hours of your time and lots of money on the platform are invested as well.

What I Tried To Do To Get It Back

So I googled, posted on some group pages on Facebook (other bloggers), searched YouTube and did the things I read and heard about. I sent no less then thirty messages to Instagram with automated response after automated response returned to me. Several said “Hi, your account has been deleted and we have no way of recovering it.  Sorry for the inconvenience” *WHAT?!* It was beyond frustrating. I “knew people” that “knew people” that worked at Facebook and IG but the process was taking way too long with my type A, lets get shit done personality.

What I Did To Get It Back

I took matters into my own hands and started messaging other bloggers that had their accounts stolen but got them back somehow. One of them messaged me back with a WhatsApp number to reach out to. So I did. I spoke with @juanr325 and he assured me he could get my account back for me. Twenty four hours later he did just that. Throughout the process he messaged me back when I messaged him and kept my mind at ease. 

Lessons Learned

I learned two very important lessons from this experience 

1. Do NOT open emails or click on links within the email before you check the sender. It was very obvious to me after looking back at the email that caused the hack that it was fake. The body of the email looked very legit but not the sender’s email. Be vigilant about checking who the sender is! 
2. Diversify your social media. Although I believe IG is the biggest social media platform for exposure I learned that it can be gone in the blink of an eye. Not everyone gets there account back. If you are branding yourself you need to be using multiple forms of social. Besides that, the frustration level from people using IG is at an all time high. Brands and creators are beginning to realize that their exposure on IG is less and less every month and it’s users wanting to see said content are seeing less and less. It’ll be very interesting to see where IG goes in the coming years.

There Has To Be A Better Way

I love Instagram as much as the next person but something has to change. Thousands of people are getting hacked daily. Since I posted about this experience on other social media platforms I have had a half a dozen people reach out to me with the same story or something very similar!

There has to be better protection for Instagram users. Maybe charge business accounts (or anyone that wants added protection) a monthly fee for said added protection. I’d be willing to pay to ensure this doesn’t happen to me again. I think most people that have put their time, energy and money into building and maintaining their accounts would agree. It just doesn’t seem right that the largest social media platform in the world can’t protect its users better. 

I was one of the lucky ones.  Not everyone is so lucky. I have heard from some that their account was forever lost. My heart goes out to you.  There’s nothing quite like seeing your hard work disappear right before your eyes.

Check out my quick YouTube Video about being hacked and follow me. I’m planning on putting some quick Barre workouts on there soon!

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All my photos were taken by my fave photographer Ashley Kemmer Photography