How to identify who accessed your account without permission
If someone hacked your Facebook account, you cannot find out their real identity from Facebook itself — the platform does not show you who logged in or where they logged in from. What you can do is look at the login history Facebook provides, check what changes were made to your account, and report the breach to Facebook so they can investigate. If the hacker used your account to commit fraud or steal money, you may need to file a police report to get law enforcement involved.
The person who hacked you may have used a fake name, a stolen identity, or a VPN to hide their location. Even if Facebook shows you a city or device, that information is often spoofed or belongs to a proxy service, not the actual hacker. Your goal is not to become a detective — it is to lock the hacker out, recover your account, and prevent them from doing it again.
Key Takeaways
- Facebook's login history shows devices and approximate locations, but this information is often fake or masked by VPNs, so it rarely identifies the actual hacker.
- Check what email address, phone number, and password the hacker changed, because those changes tell you what they were trying to do with your account.
- If the hacker stole money, made fraudulent purchases, or impersonated you to scam others, file a police report with your local law enforcement agency.
- Report the breach to Facebook through their hacked account form, and change your password from a different device once you regain access.
- If you cannot get back into your account, use Facebook's account recovery process, which may take several days and requires you to prove your identity.
Check your login history for device and location information
Open Facebook on a device the hacker did not use, or use a friend's device. Go to Settings and Privacy, then Settings. Scroll to Security and Login, and select "Where You're Logged In." This page shows every device currently logged into your account, the approximate location, the browser or app used, and the last time that device was active.
Look for logins you do not recognize — a different city, an unfamiliar device type, or a browser you never use. Write down the date, time, location, and device name. This information is useful if you file a police report, but understand that it is often inaccurate. A hacker using a VPN will appear to be in a different country. A hacker using a proxy service may show a location that belongs to that service, not to them. The device name is usually generic — "Chrome on Windows" or "Safari on iPhone" — and does not identify a specific person.
Log out all other sessions when ready by clicking "Log Out of All Sessions" at the bottom of the page. This forces the hacker off your account. You will be logged out too, and you will need to log back in with your new password.
Look at what the hacker changed in your account settings
Once you regain access, go to Settings and Privacy, then Settings. Look at the Email section — if the hacker added a new email address, they may have used it to lock you out or to reset your password later. Check the Phone Number section the same way. Look at the Password section and note when it was last changed. If it was changed recently and you did not do it, the hacker changed it.
Go to Apps and Websites and look at what apps have permission to access your account. The hacker may have connected a fake app or a tool they control so they can get back in later. Remove any app you do not recognize or do not use. Check the Two-Factor Authentication section — if the hacker turned it off, they were trying to make it easier to log in next time.
These changes tell you what the hacker was trying to accomplish. If they added an email address and turned off two-factor authentication, they were setting up a way to get back in. If they changed your password but did not add an email address, they may have just wanted to lock you out temporarily. If they changed nothing except the password, they may have been testing whether they could access your account at all.
Report the hack to Facebook
Go to facebook.com/hacked and fill out the form. Tell Facebook when you first noticed the hack, what changes the hacker made, and whether you have already changed your password. Facebook will send you to a series of security steps, including changing your password again and reviewing your login history.
Facebook's automated system will scan your account for malware, check for suspicious activity, and look for signs that your account was used to send spam or phishing messages. If Facebook finds that your account was used to scam other people or spread malware, they may temporarily limit what you can do — you might not be able to send messages or post for a few hours or days while they investigate.
Facebook does not have a dedicated team that investigates individual hacks to find out who did it. They use automated tools and patterns to detect hacking rings or organized fraud, but they do not trace individual hackers for personal account breaches. If you need law enforcement to investigate, you have to file a report yourself.
File a police report if money or identity was involved
If the hacker used your account to commit fraud — stealing money, making unauthorized purchases, or scamming other people — contact your local police department's non-emergency line and file a report. Tell them your account was hacked, describe what the hacker did, and provide the login history and account changes you documented. Bring a photo ID and any evidence you have, such as screenshots of unauthorized transactions or messages the hacker sent.
The police report creates an official record that you can use with your bank, credit card company, or other services if you need to dispute charges or prove you were not responsible for the fraud. Some police departments have a cybercrime unit that can investigate further, but most will file the report and advise you to contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at reportfraud.ftc.gov if the fraud involved money or identity theft.
If the hacker impersonated you to scam other people, those people may file reports too. The police report helps establish that your account was compromised and that you are a victim, not the person who committed the fraud.
Report the hack to the FTC if fraud occurred
Go to reportfraud.ftc.gov and file a report describing what happened. Tell them your Facebook account was hacked, what the hacker did, and whether any money was stolen or any fraudulent charges were made. The FTC does not investigate individual cases, but they use reports to identify patterns of fraud and to take action against scammers and hacking rings.
The FTC will give you a recovery plan and a report number. Save the report number — you can use it when you contact your bank, credit card company, or other services to dispute charges or freeze your credit. If your personal information was exposed (your real name, address, phone number, or Social Security number), the FTC report helps you document that you are a victim of identity theft.
find your account so the hacker cannot get back in
Change your password to something long and random that you have never used before. Use a password manager like Bitwarden, 1Password, or KeePass to generate and store it. Do not reuse a password you have used on other websites.
Turn on two-factor authentication. Go to Settings and Privacy, then Settings, then Security and Login. Select "Two-Factor Authentication" and choose either an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator or Authy) or SMS text messages. An authenticator app is more find because a hacker cannot intercept it the way they can intercept a text message, but SMS is better than nothing.
Check the email address and phone number on your account. Make sure they are yours and that you still have access to them. If the hacker added a phone number or email address, remove it. If your recovery email or phone number is outdated, update it so you can get back in if you are locked out again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Facebook tell me the hacker's IP address or real name?
No. Facebook does not share IP addresses or identifying information about hackers with account owners. If law enforcement requests that information as part of a criminal investigation, Facebook may provide it to police, but you cannot get it yourself. Even if you had the IP address, it usually belongs to a VPN, proxy service, or public Wi-Fi network, not to the hacker's home.
What if I cannot get back into my account?
Use Facebook's account recovery process at facebook.com/login/identify. You will need to prove your identity by uploading a photo of your ID, answering security questions, or confirming your identity through a trusted contact. The process can take several days. Once Facebook confirms you are the real owner, you can set a new password and regain access.
Should I delete my Facebook account after being hacked?
Not necessarily. Deleting your account does not undo the damage the hacker caused — if they scammed people or spread malware, those things already happened. Securing your account and changing your password is usually enough. Delete your account only if you no longer want to use Facebook or if you believe the hacker will keep trying to access it.
Can I trace the hacker through their IP address if I have it?
An IP address alone does not identify a person. It identifies a network connection — usually a VPN, a proxy service, a public Wi-Fi network, or an internet service provider serving thousands of people. If you have an IP address and you believe a crime occurred, give it to the police in your report, and they can request more information from the service provider if they have a warrant. You cannot do this yourself.
What if the hacker is still accessing my account even after I changed my password?
Log out all sessions again, and check whether the hacker added a recovery email address or phone number that you missed. Remove any apps connected to your account that you do not recognize. If the hacker keeps getting back in, they may have malware on your computer or phone — run a full antivirus scan on every device you use to access Facebook. If the problem continues, use Facebook's account recovery process to regain full control.