What to do if your Facebook account is hacked

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A central Ohio woman called Better Call 4 after she said her Facebook account was hacked and taken over. 

"I was at work and received a text that said to use the code for two-factor authenticity to log into my Facebook," said Laura Bean. "And jokingly said to my coworkers, 'Somebody's trying to hack my Facebook page again.'" 

Unfortunately, for Bean, it wasn't a joke. 

"About four minutes later, I had an e-mail that asked if I had changed my e-mail address or added an e-mail address to my account," Bean said. "I hit, 'No. Stop the process,' and a minute later, got another email asking if I had changed my password." 

A  minute after that, Bean said she got another email, asking if she had changed the phone number associated with her account. Again, she said, "No,” but within a matter of moments, Bean was locked out of her account -- even with the proper security measures in place. 

"I had two-factor authenticity," Bean said. "I had it to where, even, like only my friends could see my posts. So, I would assume that the hacker has changed those settings. And now they can share it to other people." 

As for why someone would do this? Potentially, to make a profit. 

"They posted that I was selling four Taylor Swift concert tickets," Bean said. 

She went through the process of filing a complaint with Facebook's parent company, Meta. 

"Sent my drivers’ license, my work ID," Bean said. "I have heard nothing from them at all and have sent in multiple complaints. Nothing. Zero." 

That's when she called Better Call 4. I reached out to Meta on Bean's behalf but have not yet heard back. 

In the meantime, I did some research to figure out what a Facebook user can and should do if something like this happens to you. If you suspect someone is trying to take over your account:  

• Go to the login screen and click "Forgotten Password." Reset your password and log back in. Then, visit facebook.com/hacked to secure your account and review your recent login activity.  

• If a hacker successfully changes the email address connected to your account, remember that Facebook sends a message to the previous email account with a link to verify the change. Find that email, reverse the change and follow the steps to secure your account.  

• If none of that works, reach out to Facebook directly. But, be prepared to wait for a response.  

"There's got to be better customer service," Bean said. "There has to be because, right now, it's nonexistent." 

Remember that anything online is risky in general. As hackers become more inventive, you may not be able to stop them completely, but you can take steps to slow them down, such as two-factor authentication. 

NBC4 will continue to reach out to Facebook and report if or when there's an update.