Two related scams target people worried about their accounts. In the first, a message warns of a copyright strike, policy violation or imminent suspension, with a link to appeal. In the second, someone offers to recover an account you have already lost — usually contacting you shortly after you complained publicly.
Why the timing is not coincidence
Public complaints about lost accounts are monitored. Posting "I have been hacked, please help" reliably attracts replies from accounts impersonating support staff or offering recovery services. They are watching for exactly that post.
What gives it away
- Contact by direct message or reply rather than through official in-app notifications.
- A link to a login page on a domain that is not the platform's own.
- A request for your password, verification code, or access to your email.
- An upfront fee for recovery, particularly in cryptocurrency or gift cards.
- Urgency — a deadline of hours before permanent deletion.
The correct route
Every major platform has an account recovery process in its help centre, reached by typing the address yourself. It is often slow and frustrating, which is precisely why the fraudulent alternative is attractive. Use it anyway. Secure the email account behind the profile first — recovering a profile while its mailbox is controlled by someone else achieves nothing.
Prevention
- Multi-factor authentication on both the account and its email, using an authenticator app rather than SMS.
- Store recovery codes offline where you can find them.
- For business accounts, ensure more than one administrator exists.
- Do not post publicly that you have lost access — it advertises you as a target.