My twitter got hacked!!!

PeteDutcher · Aug 7, 2014

I admit it...I spend very little time on twitter. I spend more on facebook.

But tonight I went to twitter and saw hundred of retweets on my account, in my name, of porn and all sorts of stuff I DO NOT support.

At first I started blocking and muting. Then I saw that groups of 200+ people were followed. Then another group. Then another.

And I did not follow them personally.

So, I changed the username, deleted the account and made a new one.

The problem is, I was following a lot of professionals and I lost ALL of my followers. I know I probably should have made a list first, but I was frustrated because even as I was looking, new porn retreets were put up before I deleted the account.

Sigh...any advice on rebuilding a following after the fact?

My name is @PeteDutcherJr

robjvargas · Aug 8, 2014

Start finding things worth tweeting and retweeting? Make sure you've got a reference to the correct Twitter account on your FB page?

Oh, and for a few weeks, change the password every week. Use a STRONG password, too. If your old Twitter account used a password you use elsewhere, do this on all those other accounts, too.

veinglory · Aug 8, 2014

This is fixed 99% of the time by just changing your password, and the other 1% by telling Twitter what is happening. You could still send a request to reinstate your old account.

Torgo · Aug 8, 2014

Just changing the password is not enough in these circumstances. You also need to check your app permissions in Twitter Settings (the gear button on the website). Most of these are for things like your phone's Twitter app, which needs to be able to do everything; some will be for things like comment apps on websites that you 'log in to with Twitter.' If you don't recognise an app, revoke its permissions, especially if it can post, follow or unfollow on your behalf.

Williebee · Aug 8, 2014

What they said. Twitter support may not help you at this point, but it won't cost you more than a minute of typing to ask, yeah?

The permissions is crucial, especially anywhere in your social media that you have allowed Twitter access to, or access to your Twitter (FB, etc.)

Good luck!

veinglory · Aug 8, 2014

Most of the hacks I see are simple phished passwords. But detaching app permissions is also a good idea.

PeteDutcher · Aug 8, 2014

I thought of disabling apps and changing my password. The problem is taking the time to get rid of all of those retweets. I simply do not have the time to deal with them since there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of them.

However, if ever I had a good time to rebuild a following, now is it. I am changing a few things about the availability of my work and I just finished my best work yet.

There were some celebrities that were following me and it was nice having some personal contact with them, but I suppose I can send them messages to tell them my new user name.

I have decided to not allow any apps on twitter. I don't tweet from my phone anyway. And I'm not linking Facebook to it (which I did before; changed the password there as well).

PeteDutcher · Oct 15, 2014

I just want to say thank you to those of you who have followed me on twitter. I've been getting several adds, and I suspect many came through here.

Channy · Oct 16, 2014

I had this happen to me. I also didn't use Twitter very much, mostly Facebook, and one day I checked and saw a lot of retweets and follows on random foreign accounts.. mostly on/about/of the middle east. It wasn't a whole lot, but it was noticeable (and not being porn) I wasn't too freaked out. I'd just delete them and unfollow.. then next time I logged in, it happened again. I just changed my password (and any similar account password) and problem was solved.

My twitter got hacked!!!

PeteDutcher

Twitter: @petedutcherjr

robjvargas

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Torgo

Formerly Phantom of Krankor.

Williebee

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

veinglory

volitare nequeo

PeteDutcher

Twitter: @petedutcherjr

PeteDutcher

Twitter: @petedutcherjr

Channy

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