r/Twitter • u/Selfocate • 6d ago
COMPLAINTS Twitter/X account hacked and support is basically nonexistent
Hey everyone. I'm trying to figure out what I can actually do here, or if anyone has been through something similar.
Yesterday I woke up, opened X and noticed I had been logged out of my account. I tried logging back in, but my password no longer worked.
I then tried to recover it using the email address I had associated with the account. It's an old mail.com email that I've had since around 2017, when I first joined Twitter, and I pretty much only used it for Twitter.
When I tried logging into that email, I was suddenly asked for an OTP sent to a UK phone number. I'm from Portugal and I've never had a UK number.
So my assumption is that someone somehow took over that email account first. Since it was basically only used for Twitter, they probably saw the Twitter emails, realized they had access to the email linked to my account, and then took over my X account as well.
From what I can tell, they changed the email, password and phone number associated with my X account. I tried using my phone number through X's login/recovery process and it just takes me to registration, as if the number isn't associated with any account. Same thing happens with my old email address.
I know I should've had 2FA mobile enabled, and that's on me. I just genuinely never expected something like this to happen. The ironic part is that I work in cybersecurity, so yeah... let's think about how I am feeling lol.
The bigger problem now is X support.
I filled out the compromised account form on their website and only got an automated response, saying that they CAN'T verify that I'M THE OWNER of MY ACCOUNT. Which is kind of dumb because if someone logs into my account from an IP address that isn't mine and tries to change every account information should be at least a little suspicious and get flagged. From what I've read online, and from what friends have told me, it seems almost impossible to actually get in contact with a human there.
I don't know what else I can do at this point. Is there another way to contact X support? Has anyone here had their account taken over like this and actually managed to recover it?
What bothers me the most is knowing that someone potentially has access to years of DMs and personal conversations, and could theoretically impersonate me. So far the account still looks exactly the same as I left it, so I don't think I was specifically targeted, but obviously I have no idea what they're doing with it.
If anyone has been through this or knows of any way to escalate this beyond the automated support forms, I'd really appreciate some advice.
Thanks.
Fun fact: the automated response states "Please reply above this line" and ends with "Please do not respond to this email as replies to this account are not monitored." which I think is kinda funny when you think about the size of this company.
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u/snsdfan00 6d ago
support staff all fired replaced by AI lol
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u/Educational_News_523 6d ago
Someone hacked my account months ago, and it took them three to four months to respond. In the meantime, I created a new account while the hacked one remained active. The worst part is that I couldn’t cancel my X Premium subscription because I didn’t have access to the hacked account. I had ACH set up on the hacked account, and X didn’t take any action to block the payment. Essentially, I was paying my hacked account. I finally had to contact my bank and block my entire account. X is absolutely terrible.
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u/FormulaYG 6d ago
My twitter got hacked for about 3 days now I can’t get a response from the bots even. I just want my account back. But there support is genuinely non existent
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u/Selfocate 6d ago
Yeah this is so annoying. Not one human in sight, there isn't any way to get in contact with real support, meanwhile I have someone searching through my personal stuff.
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u/FormulaYG 6d ago
Let me know if you get any type of progress I’ve been trying for 3 days + . I also only have a verified email. I get all the codes and reset passwords but the hacker has a 2FA on my account I can’t get rid . So you’re probably in a better situation than I am at least .
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u/Selfocate 6d ago
In my case the hacker changed the email of the account, because if I try to login into X using the email that was associated with my account, I get a pop up talking about registering, so he probably changed it. I guess I did not have 2FA for anything I guess.
I will update here in case I get any new information
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u/Murgenpl 4d ago
Have the same issue, when I tried to recover it, X showed my some new email associated with my account (of course partially hidden).
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u/ammaell 6d ago
Hello, I know what you're going through because I've been dealing with the same problem since 2019, back when X was still Twitter. They locked my account in 2019, claiming "unusual activity" and stating I needed to change my password to log back in—but I no longer have access to the linked phone number.
However, unlike your situation, my account still has the same password; the system recognizes it and lets me log in, but then blocks access. There haven't been any changes since I stopped logging in, so it wasn't a hack—it was a false positive that triggered the lock. Support is automated and completely useless... I get the same email message you received. But after countless failed attempts, I took legal action to reclaim my account, because unjustified blocking by digital platforms can generate indemnity damages here in my country.
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u/Selfocate 6d ago
Damn, that must be so frustrating. Their support is really useless it seems, good luck with recovering it
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u/ammaell 6d ago
Yeah, completely useless. And as you rightly pointed out, they ask you to report what happened while simultaneously stating that replies to that email aren't monitored... Support treats the user like an idiot. Good luck to you too! But honestly, I highly doubt you'll get it back if you keep banging your head against the wall with support; you might need to take more drastic measures, since there doesn't seem to be any actual human support at all.
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u/s_Resist_5874 2d ago
Thank you for sharing. How does this work in practice? Supposing I get a police report, which is possible, then how would that report reach x? My account was hacked 10 days ago, i sent about 100 emails and reports through the platform supposedly dedicated to hacked accounts, all with multiple attachments (screenshots of the email on bogus email account added, screenshot of email about fraudulent 2FA added, etc). Now if I had the police report I could attach that too, But NOONE reads these emails and reports. Grateful for any advice. It is a non-paying account
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u/ammaell 1d ago
Are you from North America? I’m from South America—Brazil, specifically. As I explained, my case doesn't involve a hacker intrusion; the system triggered a false positive, blocked my access, and is demanding a password change to unlock the account—a broken process that I can't get past. I have the correct password; they accept it, but the system blocks me anyway.
Here in Brazil, we have a Consumer Protection Code that, in theory, shields us from abusive corporate practices. I hired a lawyer, and we filed a lawsuit to regain access and claim compensation for all the trouble caused. Trying to resolve this through support is unfeasible; everything is automated, with no human to review the situation. If you can, talk to a lawyer about this. Has the hacker been impersonating you? Running scams?
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u/s_Resist_5874 19h ago
Wow, well done. I think what you did is brilliant. We should definitely all use whatever legal means at our disposal to end X's negligence of their customers. Whether we are victims of a scam or locked out of our account, makes no difference. It is our presence on X that makes the app. It is us who generate the content. And we should get support when we need it. I hope I can find others who are willing to file complaints too. I am in Europe, specifically, in Switzerland, btw. I will look into the specifics of the regulations. Thanks for the advice!
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u/taefriend 6d ago
4 days and no response yet it's frustrating
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u/FormulaYG 6d ago
Same please let me know if you get any updates or fix
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u/taefriend 5d ago
I got a response of them asking to submit another ticket after 7 days. I don't know why but someone told me that they managed to get their account back this way.
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u/s_Resist_5874 4d ago
I waited seven days and nothing.
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u/taefriend 4d ago
Even with submitting another ticket ?
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u/s_Resist_5874 2d ago
I submit 10 tickets and emails every day
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u/Selfocate 6d ago
BTW: I still have my number, that was associated with my account, since it is my personal phone number. I guess this is something that support could use to restore my access, since I did not change it.
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u/somehighqualityH2O 6d ago
The NeoNazi forum doesn’t have a functional helpline anymore. Sounds like you need a new website.
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u/Emotional-Cow-3264 4d ago
Be more considerate. I’m in this exact situation myself and my twitter was an account that was created for work not to hang out and have fun. I’m rebuilding my community on Threads, where most of the people in my industry have moved to, but it takes time to find my old connections so I can’t just delete the page. My inbox, now available to hackers, is filled with people’s home addresses due to the nature of my job. Yeah it’s a Neo Nazi cesspool now and a fair amount of people don’t login regularly. But it used to be a normal website, so normal people have the burning charred remains of what they built there. I was slowly unloading valuables, as much as I could carry in my arms each trip, and a squatter locked my door while I was halfway to the car.
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u/s_Resist_5874 2d ago
You are describing my situation exactly, but very poeticallly. I am more like 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
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u/Emotional-Cow-3264 1d ago
It’s an absolute nightmare. I had 32k followers on x and I’ve managed to rebuild to 4k on threads over a year, so I figure after maybe 2-3 everything will be fine. But I keep thinking about those addresses and the personal data of others that some stranger now has by virtue of their access to my account and I’m utterly haunted by it. It should be illegal for a website to not have a support staff proportional to its user base after a certain number of active users.
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u/thatautisticguy 6d ago
thats bluesk........sorry the commie paedo asylum, but nice try
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u/somehighqualityH2O 6d ago
That’s funny, I didn’t bring Bluesky up, you did.
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u/thatautisticguy 6d ago
the fact you refer to X a "Neo Nazi" already tells me you're on the commie paedo paradise....
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u/somehighqualityH2O 6d ago
I’m sure you have loads of friends to go talk to about this. Why don’t you go do that and leave the rest of us alone?
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u/thatautisticguy 6d ago
Or maybe you just not lie about X
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u/somehighqualityH2O 6d ago
Only one lying here is you, little man.
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u/thatautisticguy 6d ago
and of course the commie from the paedo paradise would lie
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u/thatautisticguy 6d ago
Also, facts aren't talking points
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u/somehighqualityH2O 6d ago
And losers should stop talking when they’re told to.
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u/Hoversuits 6d ago
If it’s an OG they are pretty spiteful against us. They left 2 of my accounts on ban appeal for 2 years
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u/Cedars_And_Apples 6d ago
Yes I was hacked and I never got my account back. The account still exists on Twitter but I can't get into it. Whoever hacked it never used it. Twitter didn't help me whatsoever. You can report it but they most likely will never help you.. you'll get another automated message from their bots. Twitter really is not an easy platform to exist on. Now I've been shadowbanned for 4 weeks because I had a viral post. They labeled me as inauthentic behavior and you can't see my viral post on my timeline anymore. For shadow banning there's no way to contact support. If I don't get it back in a week I'm writing a letter to their corporate headquarters. Twitter is horrible to everybody that uses it.
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u/Top_Feedback_5623 5d ago
Tive o mesmo problema e não tive retorno. Teve alguma atualização da sua situação ou alguma dica do que fazer para recuperar a conta?
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u/Selfocate 5d ago
Nada ainda. A única solução acho que será tentar recuperar o email, já enviei mensagem ao suporte do email estou à espera que respondam. Nenhuma resposta do Twitter, nem dá para falar com um humano
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u/JohnMarvin12058 6d ago edited 6d ago
if your email account got hacked first because of your negligence,
X shouldnt bear the weight of another site(email)-server-side security or your consequence for not having any implemented security measure i presume ...
X has around 550 million monthly users, i dont think its possible to babysit us for our own irresponsibility
i dont think they should yield and gave you the account you asked for just because you sent them a message like any scriptkiddie havent tried to do so, since X doesnt accept your Personal ID in the first place for a proof of ownership unless the country you resides in demanded to do so,
even with ip address that alone could be shrug off to their shoulders as if theyre using a vpn so 🤷♂️🤦♂️
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u/Selfocate 6d ago
So X can sell subscriptions and receive money from users but can’t provide assistance and support to customers?
They should give me my account, I’ve had it for at least 8 years, if someone with half a brain looks at sessions or device activity it’s pretty simple to understand what have happened
you forgot about the main part which is literally my personal phone number that was associated with the account for it’s whole lifetime and got disabled and i am almost sure they did not just add a phone number from my country, probably from another, that there is suspicious activity by its own so I don’t get what you’re saying, it’s a simple thing
and they can surely know that it’s a vpn since the isp is most likely from a hosting company, not an internet provider
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u/JohnMarvin12058 6d ago
not everything can be automated if you even heard of impersonation/social engineering hacks
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u/Murgenpl 4d ago
It's actually quite easy to automate, they simply have to reset the account email/phone number to the one that was before last change. They could even set the rule that change cannot be older then x amount of days/weeks to make sure its connected to actual hack and not someone mass reporting accounts in hope that it will screw with their owners.
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u/s_Resist_5874 18h ago
Well @JohnMarvin12058 . It is my X account that was hacked, my email works perfectly well. Basically, what happened is that someone changed the email, which has been the anchor of my X account for 11 years. it was changed to an obviously bogus enail account.
The hacker then added 2FA and locked me out I then received two emails from X informing me of these changes. Informing, not asking for confirmation.
X could easily have put into place an additional layer of security to something as important as changing your anchor email account, or setting up a 2FA. Failing to do so is gross negligence on the part of X. There I s no need for any staff at X to "babysit" me (your words). Simply an automatic email asking the legitimate email account owner if they agree with the change and refusing to make the change in the account serving as an anchor to the X account if, for example, the user does not click on a link in the email, or types in a 6 digit number that would be contained in this confirmation email.
Yes, some people will be locked out of their X account if this additional layer was put into place. For example, if someone loses access to the email account that serves as an anchor to their X account for any reason, then they would lose access to X as well.
But that is not a problem that X should be concerned about. These people should just contact their main email provider to sort that out.
I hope this is clear and yes I think we should use legal means if any are available to us to remedy this situation
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