For years people have been posting articles on how to hack others so we decided to make an article on how to protect yourself from being hacked on Facebook messenger. Here's what you need to know!
The first thing you should know are the most common ways used by "Script Kitties" to hack into your accounts.
What is a Script Kitty?
script kiddie. n. A person who uses existing scripts, code, or other tools illicitly to gain entry to a computer system or network, without understanding the way the tools function or the way the system or network is designed.
Here are the 3 common methods used:
1. Keylogging (Can Require Patience)
2. Phishing (Takes Considerable Time)
3. mSpy (The Easiest Method)
The good thing about these methods is they usually require you to be in close proximity or access to your device.
Here is a video on how keylogging is done
Here is a video on Phishing
How Parental Control Tools Can Be Used For Spying!
Now that we got the how out of the way. Here are some security methods you can use to prevent this from happening to you.
How to Stop a Facebook Messenger Hack
You’ve probably heard the many cases, or been a victim yourself, of a Facebook Messenger hack (or even just getting your account hacked or hijacked).
What does this mean?
Sometimes, this can just be someone hijacking your Facebook to randomly post things to spread what some people call a “Facebook Virus” around, but no matter what, this is a very serious ordeal. It most cases it may be someone close to you or someone you know.
There are numerous threats that you can face if your Facebook Messenger account is hacked, and it can even lead to things happening without your permission, such as identity theft, stealing of credit card information, and they can even change your password, locking you out of your account to steal all of your pertinent information.
We're going to give you some tips on how you can stop a Facebook Messenger hack and battle those hackers like a true ninja!
How to Know if You’ve Ever Been Hacked
Facebook has a unique selection of tools when it comes to finding out if you’ve ever been hacked. At the same time, you may want to look into things yourself. In this guide I’ll tell you how you can find out if you’ve ever been hacked, or how to know if you are currently hacked.
Here are some things to watch out for.
Friends report random messages, video, or photo posts that you didn’t create.
A Friend may legitimately receive a friend’s request from a cloned account.
Your activity log in Facebook Settings shows devices you aren’t logged into (or locations that you haven’t been at).
You can’t login using your password.
You get e-mailed with password reset instructions.
You get emailed saying someone logged in (and you haven’t).
Any of your personal information is changed to something else.
You have a ton of sent friends requests to people you’ve never added or know.
Make sure there is no app on your phone called KeyLogger
Any risky apps like Iphone Spy, Auto Forward, Highster Mobile, or Phone Spector
Don’t ever think you’re safe just because you haven’t received these notifications or warning signs. You get a message stating to enter an 6 digit authentication code.
If you’ve set up 2-Factor authentication, and you start getting these messages, someone may be trying to hack into your account. If you haven’t set up 2-factor authentication, someone could have turned this on without you knowing it and have your device hacked!
Any risky apps on your phone that you did not put on there such as those talked about above should be removed but these apps are not limited to what we described because they come out with new ones all the time so to be on the safe side make sure your phone is clean by cleaning it yourself or by using security apps like Bitdefender
How You Can Prevent the Hacks
Facebook itself has some great ways to prevent hackers, or stop them dead in their tracks so you can report these cyber criminals and possibly get them banned, deleted, or removed (some of them have even been jailed for their alleged crimes and theft).
Change Your Password & Remove Apps
Changing your password is the first and primary thing you need to do. When it comes to picking the right password, make them work for it. Use something with random numbers, letters, and a couple extra special characters (such as an @, !, #, $, or other symbol) in it. If it’s an easy password, people can actually use tools to crack it, or they may be able to just guess based on your personal information what the password may be. Select a strong password, and change it immediately if there is any suspicious behavior!
Make sure that you check the apps on your phone to verify that no one has installed any apps that you are not aware of, if so then remove them but be careful because you need to fully understand what you are un-installing because so things are part of you phone to proceed with caution.
Enable 2-Factor Authentication
Turning on 2-factor authentication is a great tool. It may seem to be annoying sometimes, because it adds an extra step to your login process, but I promise you, it’s totally worth it when it helps you protect your privacy and even possibly your identity from would-be hackers! You can do this from logging into your Facebook, going to your Settings page, clicking the Security and Privacy Tab, and then scroll down. You’ll see that you can enable 2-step authentication. Do it!
If you need a link to the direct Facebook help article for two-factor authentication then click here.
With a Little Help from Your Friends
Most likely a Facebook friend will notify you that they received a weird message or got another friend request from you. Be sure to let your friends know you may have been hacked and ask them questions if you feel the hack is bad. This will help you get clear on what was hacked by their feedback.
Enable Alerts About Unrecognized Logins
Whether you do or don’t have 2-Factor Authentication enabled, you can get updates on your emails, Facebook Messenger, Facebook profile, and even your cell phone with this setting. This will allow Facebook to get a hold of you if someone actually logs in on an unfamiliar or new device.
Some companies such as Google have already activated this feature by default and therefore, it’s nice that Facebook has as well, because it can help alert you so you can stop that hacker!
Disable Your Password Saving
Many people take advantage of saving their password on Facebook on their browsers and mobile devices, as well as the stay logged in feature on their Facebook Messenger. By disabling the password remembering option on your Facebook profile in the Settings page (also in Security and Privacy), you can rest assured that those who are going to hack your profile or Messenger have to work even harder to get logged in.
Some software and apps try to exploit your information to hack you, and believe it or not, you can even use this feature combined with others to make it even harder for them to do that.
Take Advantage of Facebook’s Hacked URL
If your profile has ever been hacked, Facebook can help verify your true identity and therefore they’ve provided a link called “Facebook Hacked” which will help you get back into your account.
Be prepared to answer a slew of questions, and make sure you get everything right, and you’ll be fine and able to change that password as mentioned above.
Use a Chatbot
Chatbots are a tool which have been gaining popularity for many reasons, especially to fellow Smart Bot Marketers out there like myself. What’s even more important is that while hackers can hack chatbots, you can program it to behave like a real person. Some people set up additional responses, and you can even use it to protect against those said hackers by enabling extra security features, encrypting your data, and so much more.
Even better, you can program your chatbot to respond to appropriate responses and not click links, sort of moderating your Facebook Messenger.
For example, if someone tries to send a chatbot a file, you can set your Messenger to not accept incoming files. You can make your chatbot respond appropriately to certain domain wildcards you may want to avoid.
A good defense against hackers that is proving to be one of the best is that hackers don’t like to waste time. They like to get your info and run. Therefore, by adding numerous security measures to your chatbot, you can actually deter them just by “boring them to death”. The more you can waste a hacker’s time, the more you can increase the chances that they’ll realize it’s what your chatbot is doing and leave your page alone!
How to Make Your ManyChat Bot Secure
We already mentioned that you can block incoming files or links above. But there are other things you can do to increase your chatbot’s security.
You can make your bots learn how to know the difference between normal data and confidential data so that way you can protect and encrypt the right kind of data, ultimately helping customers’ (and your own) safety.
Make sure if your chatbot is able to collect pertinent information that it stays that way.
You also need to keep an eye on your chatbot to make sure it’s not allowing people to give personal information that’s important. For example, if someone tries giving you a 16-digit number, or a credit card information on your chatbot’s messenger, you can program PAT responses in your chatbot that tell people that you can’t accept that information, warn them that they cannot send that kind of information to your bot, and then flag the bot to shut the conversation down immediately.
Put it On Pause
Pausing your chatbot can greatly help your case as well.
Sometimes if you notice that there is sensitive data that your chatbot has captured. If this happens, you need to temporarily disable your chatbot until you can fix it. If someone is able to give your chatbot this info, they may be setting you up for failure, so you may want to contact them and let them know that they provided this information and you are fixing your chatbot.
Setting Up Custom Chatbot Alerts
One great thing about chatbots that may help you as well, is that you can set up your chatbot to act as a second mediator for your Facebook Messenger as well! By programming your bot to notice and look into certain bits of information collected, as well as by noticing certain things that your Facebook account is “posting” or sending, you can allow your ManyChat bot to actually send you notifications as well, and if you have the ManyChat app on your phone, you can.
It can seem complicated if you are not that tech savvy. Good news, we are here to help. Click here to contact us & tell us how we can help.