Telegram account hacked? Do these steps now.

Most Telegram hacks need one thing: your login code, sometimes together with the two-step password. If someone else is in your account, the steps below take it back and limit the damage.

1. Signs that someone else is in your account

• A message from the official Telegram account about a login from a device you do not recognise.
• An unknown device in Settings › Devices.
• Messages you did not send, or contacts asking about messages from you.
• A changed name, photo, username or two-step password.
• You were suddenly logged out on all your devices.

2. Still logged in on a device? Do this now

1. Open Settings › Devices and end every session you do not recognise.
2. Open Settings › Privacy and Security › Two-Step Verification. Turn it on, or change the password if it is already on.
3. Check that the recovery email is yours, and change it if it is not.
4. Check your username, profile and privacy settings, and the admin lists of channels or groups you own.
5. Tell your contacts that messages sent from your account in this period were not from you.

3. Telegram's 24-hour rule for new sessions

Telegram's developer documentation says a session cannot log out other sessions until 24 hours have passed since it logged in. This works in both directions:

• An intruder who has just logged in cannot end your older session, so keep yours open.
• If you log back in on a new device, you may have to wait up to 24 hours before you can end the intruder's session from it.

While you wait, two-step verification is the most important step, because it stops anyone from logging in with a code alone.

4. Logged out everywhere

• Log in again with your phone number. If the code arrives and no new password was set, you are back in: follow the steps above.
• If the intruder set a two-step password, use Forgot password with your recovery email if it is still yours.
• With no recovery email and no other session, Telegram offers a reset that takes about 7 days and erases the account's data. Use it only as a last resort.
• If your SIM card was taken over, ask your mobile operator to block it and issue a new SIM with your number.

Every other case is covered in the steps to recover a Telegram account.

5. Your contacts are being asked for money

A common pattern: the intruder writes to your contacts from your account and asks for an urgent loan, a payment or a login code. Warn your contacts another way, such as a call or another app, and ask them not to pay or send any code.

If you lost money or someone threatens you, report it to the cyber crime police in your country.

6. How accounts get hacked

• Phishing pages and fake bots that ask you to log in to vote, claim a gift or get Telegram Premium.
• Messages from fake Telegram support that ask for your code.
• A login code shared with someone you trusted.
• A stolen or reissued SIM card.
• Malware or modified Telegram apps from unofficial sources.

Telegram never asks for your login code in a chat. Keep two-step verification on and type codes only in the official app.

Frequently asked questions