In recent months, there’s been a sharp rise in Facebook account hacking cases — not just globally, but here in Uganda and across Africa. Many people wake up to find their Facebook accounts posting strange links, sending spam messages, or worse — completely disabled for “suspicious activity.” It happened to me several times and since I am not a social media kinda person, I always gave up my Facebook accounts. Some accounts I had had for a very long time (years) and some I even didn’t care about.
It came to a time when regardless of my Facebook account name, I would still be hacked. I got mad. A time came when my name was banned. No new Facebook account could be created with my name in it. Cleared everything eventually but it took a very long while. This got to me and broke me big time.
The scary part? Most of these hacks do not affect the Main Facebook account. This is a very big problem since you may not even know you are Hacked. Many Facebook account hacks are connected to fake pages and Instagram accounts that are linked behind the scenes. Once your account is flagged, Facebook may suspend it for review, making recovery a real struggle. Sometimes you don’t even get lucky enough and can get your account blocked for good.
In this article, we’ll show you how you recover your hacked Facebook account, the best security settings to enable, and how to prevent it from ever happening again.
1. How to Recover a Hacked Facebook Account
If your Facebook account has been hacked or disabled, don’t panic — try to follow these steps carefully.
- Use Facebook’s Official Recovery Page
Go to facebook.com/hacked.
This is the safest and fastest way to start recovery. Facebook will ask questions to verify your identity and walk you through resetting your login details. Before you attempt anything, start here.
- Reset Your Password
If you still have access to your email or phone number, select “Forgot Password” on the login page. Reset your account using a strong new password — avoid reusing old ones. Avoid using similar pass-phrases or the common words. Common words vary per individual and some of these include you name, date_of_birth, children’s names, spouse details.
- Check for Suspicious Connections
After recovery, visit your Settings → Security → Apps and Websites and remove any unfamiliar apps, pages, or connected Instagram accounts.
- Report the Incident
If your account has been used for scams or spam, report it using Facebook’s Help Center. This helps protect your friends and prevent further misuse.
2. Strengthen Your Facebook Security (2025 Tips)
Even if you haven’t been hacked, it’s wise to secure your account right now. And these little steps can help.
- Turn On Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Go to Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication. Choose either SMS or an Authenticator app. This adds a powerful layer of protection. You may need a subscription for the sms option but the Authenticator app is free.
- Review your Active Devices
In Settings → Security → Where You’re Logged In, you can see all devices using your account. Log out of any that you don’t recognize. The best option is to logout all devices except the current device.
CAUTION: Don’t do this on an unfamiliar device as this will further compromise security. Always be careful where you login. The devices you login on and keep active are very crucial in the case your account ever gets compromised.
- Update Your Recovery Details
Make sure your recovery details for example your email and phone number are valid and accessible. These are critical for account recovery. Fill out as much information as possible. Do not leave options blank unless you don’t have them. These are your fall back position incase of an attack
- Avoid Phishing Links
Links are a very good option for sharing and accessing information. You don’t need to click on all links you encounter. Links are not to be trusted because they come from a familiar account. Every account is susceptible to hacks. Never click on messages offering free followers, rewards, or verification badges. Most are scams designed to steal your login info. Through these links many people have rendered their accounts vulnerable.
- Use a Strong, Unique Password
Mix uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. Avoid using your name, birthday, or common words. I have always recommended LastPass for generating passwords. This helps me generate un-intelligible passwords and these will always pass dictionary attacks. Having a long password (14 – 18 characters) makes it more difficult for hackers since it takes longer for password hashing algorithms to break the password
3. Prevent Future Hacks
Once you’re secure, stay that way. Do everything right and monitor ever process.
- Check Page Roles Regularly:
If you manage a Facebook Page, remove unknown administrators. Hackers often hide behind page roles. Some hackers add special roles to hacker accounts and keep posting using them and hence affecting your account. - Protect Your Instagram Account:
Since Facebook and Instagram are connected, a hack on one can affect the other. Turn on 2FA for both. It is very important to link your accounts and heavily secure them all. Whatsapp has an option of Linking WhatsApp and Instagram and that could affect you if you have not secured one of them. Add multiple layers of security to Both. Keep up with Meta’s latest security updates. New threats emerge often — staying alert is your best defense.
4. Delete the unwanted Hacker Pages
- We always start at Heading to facebook.com and login to your account.
- Click on your profile picture and a menu will drop down showing your account and pages linked to your account.
- Select the account or page that you need to remove or any page that you do not recognise or even understand. <I am going to select `Legal Wellmade` Account>. Tap the Profile photo and select Settings & privacy
- Select the settings option in the next step
- In the Settings screen. We are to select the `Access and Control` option. This will then take you to a page where you can delete the page.
- The next steps: Select the `Delete Page` option and click on Continue. You will be prompted on whether or not you want to download page information or transfer it elsewhere. Since these are spam pages, you don’t need to select this option.
Finally: A prompt to confirm page ownership will come up. This will require page password. Because the page is created under your account. It will use you user Password. - Next you will confirm Page deletion.
- Here after pressing the delete button. You will be logged out. Repeat steps a – g for the remaining pages. And you’re done. Incase you delete a page you wanna keep accidentally, just head over to pages and recover it
5. Bonus: Protecting Your Digital Identity in Uganda
Cybersecurity awareness in Uganda is growing, but so are online scams. Whether you’re running a business page, a personal account, or managing ads, always keep your login details private and never share them with anyone claiming to be “Facebook Support.”
You can also register your accounts with Meta’s Business Suite for extra recovery options and professional security controls.
Final Thoughts
Recovering a hacked Facebook account can be stressful — but it’s possible. By using Facebook’s official recovery tools, strengthening your password, and activating two-factor authentication, you can take control again and stay protected.
In 2025, digital safety isn’t optional — it’s essential. Stay alert, secure your data, and help others learn to do the same.
