My LinkedIn account was hacked, how do I report and recover it?
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01 · Checked with Hunch’s on-device engine, the same one inside the extension. How Hunch checks →
Part of our guide: What to do if you got scammed →
LinkedIn has a dedicated report-a-hacked-account path, and recovery is usually straightforward if you act before the attacker changes your email. These takeovers typically begin with a fake security email linking to a lookalike host like linkedin-secure-verify.example rather than linkedin.com. Reset your password, report the account as hacked, and remove any unrecognized sessions.
Got a message like this? Paste it here →
Professionals, job seekers, and recruiters are targeted because a trusted LinkedIn profile lends credibility to fake job offers, investment pitches, and connection-request scams. The lure works by imitating LinkedIn's security emails and threatening account restriction, prompting users to "verify" on a lookalike site and surrender their password.
Illustrative example of the pattern, not a real message someone received.
How to verify it yourself
- Check the domain, LinkedIn communicates from linkedin.com, not linkedin-secure-verify.example.
- Go to linkedin.com yourself and try a password reset to your known email address.
- Open Settings > Sign in & security > Where you're signed in and end unknown sessions.
- Look for a genuine LinkedIn "your email was changed" message, which includes a revert option.
Common questions
The hacker is messaging my connections with scams, how do I stop it?
Report the account as hacked through LinkedIn's official help page and warn key contacts elsewhere; regaining control stops the outbound scam messages.
They changed my login email, can I recover?
Yes. LinkedIn's hacked-account report lets you verify identity and reclaim the account even after an email change, and their notice about the change often has a revert link.
Could this hurt my job search or reputation?
It can if the attacker posts spam or messages recruiters, so recover quickly and, once back in, delete any content they added and note the incident to close contacts.
How do I secure it going forward?
Enable two-step verification, use a unique password, and be wary of "security" emails that push you to verify on anything other than linkedin.com.
If you already responded
- Reset your LinkedIn password from linkedin.com (typed in yourself), then report the account via LinkedIn's official "Report a hacked account" page.
- In Sign in & security > Where you're signed in, end every session you don't recognize.
- Use LinkedIn's own "email changed" notice to revert your address if the attacker swapped it.
- Turn on two-step verification and review connected apps, removing anything unfamiliar.
- No legitimate recovery service cold-calls you or charges a fee, ignore any "LinkedIn account recovery specialist" who wants payment.
If you were already hit, expect a follow-up
One more thing to expect: after a scam, your details often land on lists that get reused, so you may be contacted again, sometimes by people posing as investigators, your bank's "fraud team," or "recovery agents" who promise to get your money back for an upfront fee. That follow-up is a second scam. No legitimate service charges a fee to recover funds.
Source: LinkedIn, Report a hacked account
Hunch is not affiliated with LinkedIn. LinkedIn is named only to describe a scam that impersonates it; the real LinkedIn does not send these messages.