How To Recover Locked or Hacked Instagram Accounts

How To Recover Locked or Hacked Instagram Accounts

Instagram was launched in 2010 as an IOS app by by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.  The photo sharing app immediately gained immense popularity and increased in users exponentially year over year.  As of 2022 Instagram has over 2 BILLION active users.

When I started Dufferin Media in 2012, Instagram was not heavily used by business owners to promote their products or services.  This trend quickly changed, and now having a presence on Instagram is no longer optional.

Instagram offers many benefits to business owners, including increased awareness of their brand, ability to provide quick customer service, increased leads, sales and revenue.  A few downfalls about instagram is that it doesn't have much of a benefit to the SEO of a business, and it rarely sends much website traffic because we are not able to include clickable links in posts or reels.

One of the biggest issues Instagram has had to date is the risk of being locked out of an account, or having an account hacked.  As soon as there was any such issue in the past, Instagram users would be completely stranded, spending hours of useless time trying to retrieve their accounts.  Rightfully so - many business owners spent not only years of building up their accounts, growing their followers, and engaging with customers - but also many invested by paid ads in their instagram accounts.  To have this turned off completely overnight is just insanely frustrating.

I spoke to a woman not long ago that had started a small business that quickly grew in terms of sales & customers - 100% from Instagram.  She only used Instagram, for promoting her products, selling her products, and communicating with customers.  She didn't even use email.  When Instagram locked her account - her entire small business was gone overnight.

If a business owner or Instagram account owner asked me for advise in this area, I would have only one suggestion for them - Forget the lost account, start a new one immediately.  I knew from too many experiences that regaining an account was completely hopeless.

Until now.

Instagram Adds New Measures to Help Users Regain Access to Locked Accounts

First off, on re-gaining access to hacked accounts – to help people get back into their profiles, Instagram has set up a new recovery center which will guide you through the process of logging back into your profile.

How to Recover a Hacked Instagram Account

If you find yourself locked out of IG, you can go to Instagram.com/hacked, which will then take you through the process to get your log-in info.

As explained by Instagram:

“If you’re unable to log in to your account, enter Instagram.com/hacked on your mobile phone or desktop browser. Next, you will be able to select if you think you’ve been hacked, forgot your password, lost access to two-factor authentication or if your account has been disabled. From there, you will be able to follow a series of steps to help regain access to your account.”

They have implemented a cool feature "request help from friends" which should make it easier to verify you are who you say you are

The option, which Instagram started testing back in July, is now available to everyone on Instagram.

“If you find yourself locked out of your account, you’ll be able to choose two of your Instagram friends to verify your identity and get back into your account.”

This is HUGE news from Instagram & Meta, and I hope that users that have been locked out have the opportunity now to try and gain back access to those accounts, especially business owners that really relied quite a bit on Instagram for their business.

Remember - Social Media is only Rented Space

This is a good reminder that as valuable as social media is as a marketing tool for your business, you are at the mercy of the social media platform to manage & control this aspect of your business.  Social media platforms are essential "rented" (though for free), and can be lost at any time.  There is risk in isolating your business to just one social media platform (or two).  The real digital marketing assets that you own and control should always be your primary focus.  Your Website, and your Email list.  Use social media as a part of your marketing strategy, but don't ONLY use social media as your marketing strategy.  

If you ever want to discuss your marketing strategy, please contact me I would love to be of assistance.