Hacked THEN banned. Hacker changed my email and phone, posted crypto spam, now I'm the one disabled

Anonymous2026-01-09 05:50 UTC2,130 views

Long post sorry. Timeline so I can keep it straight: Dec 29 - got a text with a 6 digit code I didn't ask for. ignored it Dec 30 - email saying the email on my account was changed. I was at work and didn't see it till that night Dec 30 night - can't log in. They changed the email, the phone, and turned on their own 2FA. My story had a 'how I made $8k in a week with bitcoin' thing on it, friends texting me asking if I'm ok Jan 2 - account disabled for scams and fraud What I've done: - instagram.com/hacked, picked 'my email was changed'. it sends the link to the NEW email (theirs) which is useless - found the original 'your email was changed' message in my gmail and clicked the revert link but it said expired - did the selfie video on Jan 4, said they'd review it - appealed the disable and explained it was hacked Now logging in just shows the disabled screen. Does the hacked route even work once it's disabled? I've had this account since 2013, it has my whole twenties on it.

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5 comments

kev_2026-01-09 14:20 UTC
The revert link only works for a short window, that's the worst part. From what people on here have said the hacked recovery and the disable appeal are kind of separate tracks, so keep both going.
Sara P.2026-01-09 18:33 UTC
Also lock down your gmail NOW if you haven't. Change the password, turn on 2FA, sign out other sessions and check your filters/forwarding. A lot of these start with the email being compromised.
Anonymous2026-01-10 03:15 UTC
OP here. Did the gmail stuff and there was a forwarding filter I never made!! Deleted. thank you so much
jules2026-01-14 22:40 UTC
If any friends actually sent money to that crypto thing they should report it (FTC and IC3 in the US). Won't get your account back but it's worth having on record.
Anonymous2026-02-03 04:05 UTC
OP again, a month in. Selfie still 'in review', appeal rejected once. Not giving up. Authenticator app on literally everything I own now