Zorge → Account hacked
Telegram account hacked — what to do, in order
If you can still open the app, act in the next two minutes: Settings → Devices → end every session that isn't yours, then set a new 2-Step Verification password. Both steps matter — ending sessions alone doesn't stop someone who already knows your password from logging back in.
Signs the account is actually compromised
- Sessions in Settings → Devices you don't recognize (different device model, unfamiliar location).
- Messages your contacts received that you never sent — often asking for money or "urgent" favors, a common pattern once an account is taken over.
- Your name, username, or profile photo changed without you doing it.
- A 2-Step Verification email you didn't set, or a password that no longer works.
If you still have access
- Settings → Privacy and Security → Active Sessions → terminate everything except your current device.
- Settings → Privacy and Security → Two-Step Verification → set a new password (or set one for the first time if you never had it — this is what actually stops the next login attempt).
- Check the linked recovery email under the same menu. If it's not yours, remove it and replace it.
- Message your contacts to ignore anything unusual sent from your account recently.
If they already locked you out
This is the harder case: an attacker with access can set their own 2-Step Verification password and recovery email, which blocks you out even though the phone number is still yours. From here, recovery goes through Telegram directly — the link on the login screen, or emailing recover@telegram.org with your phone number and a description of what happened. There's no separate "hacked account" hotline; it runs through the same channel as any other account recovery, and can take time with no guaranteed outcome.
Watch for "account recovery" offers contactable through Telegram, WhatsApp, or email that ask for your phone number and the code Telegram texts you. That combination is exactly what's needed to take an account over, not restore one. A real recovery never requires handing that code to anyone outside the Telegram app itself.
Worth setting up afterward: a bot connected through Telegram Business that keeps a running copy of the chats you pick, outside the account itself. It won't prevent a hack, but it means the record of those conversations doesn't depend entirely on nobody else ever getting in.
Common questions
How do I know if my Telegram account was hacked?
Check Settings → Devices for sessions you don't recognize, look for messages sent to contacts that you didn't write, and check if your profile info or 2-Step Verification email changed without you doing it.
What's the first thing to do if Telegram is hacked?
End all other active sessions in Settings → Privacy and Security → Active Sessions, then immediately set a new 2-Step Verification password. Both together, not just one.
What if the hacker already changed my password and email?
Recovery goes through Telegram directly, via the appeal link on the login screen or by emailing recover@telegram.org with your phone number and details. There's no separate hotline for this case.
Should I warn my contacts if my account was hacked?
Yes — a hacked account is commonly used to message contacts asking for money or urgent favors. A quick heads-up prevents them from falling for it.
Can a paid service recover a hacked Telegram account faster?
No legitimate one exists. Anything asking for your phone number and login code is attempting to take the account, not recover it.
Next
Telegram code not received — the real fixes, in order.
Telegram account banned — why it happens, and the real appeal process.