My Snapchat account has been hacked! What can I do?
Social media can hold a huge number of precious memories, and to have these taken away from you in an instant can be distressing. When you add in the sharing, or threat to share, of intimate imagery that was only intended for private viewing, the consequences can feel devastating.
Unfortunately, the Revenge Porn Helpline has seen a rise in cases relating to Snapchat accounts and the ‘My Eyes Only’ section being hacked by criminals. Clients are often subjected to threats to share intimate images taken from the password protected ‘My Eyes Only’ section, and in some cases, intimate images are subsequently shared with their Snapchat contacts. In addition to this, the hackers may change the two-factor authentication and password settings, which can make it extremely difficult for a client to regain access to their account.
What to do if you have had your Snapchat hacked.
Attempt to change your Snapchat password. You will need the phone number or email address you originally used to create the account:
Visit Snapchat’s ‘Change your password’ page here.
Enter your username or email address, or alternatively your phone number.
Enter your old password.
Create a new password.
If you are able to access your account, make sure to unlink any other devices from your account by following the steps here.
Attempt to regain access to your account. You will need the phone number or email address you originally used to create the account to follow these steps:
Visit the Snapchat Support page here.
Select 'I think my account was compromised'.
Enter your username, email address, and mobile number into the form.
Fill out a detailed description of what has happened to your account.
Submit your request.
Raise your privacy settings. Enable multi-factor authentication, and change your passwords across all your other accounts. You can find more advice on creating strong passwords here, and learn how to raise your privacy settings here.
What can we do to help?
The Helpline is unable to regain access to your account on your behalf, however, there are a few other things we can help with.
We can report Snapchat and other social media accounts that have been used to share, or have made threats to share, private sexual images without your consent. We will require evidence of the threats made and a link or username to the account.
If threats have been made to share your private sexual images online, you may be eligible to use the StopNCII.org tool to digitally hash the content and prevent it from being shared across partnered platforms.
If your images have been shared elsewhere online, we can help to report these on your behalf, please get in touch with the Helpline for more advice and support.
If no threats or images have been shared, then the Revenge Porn Helpline is limited in what we can do, but we do have a sister service, Report Harmful Content, which may be able to assist you further if this is part of a wider pattern of online harm.
