You have been hacked! Why you shouldn’t click on just any link on social media

Watch out for malware [Photo: Courtesy]

I’m sure you have noticed a certain trend on Facebook lately. Your friend sliding in your DM with a link which seems to have weird information about you, you are prompted to click on the link.

A lot of times those links are things like; "You won't believe what happened next...", "I have found a video of you on line (or on Facebook)! Click here to see it!", "So and so is giving away free iPhones if you hurry", etc...

The urge to click on these links is extremely high. No one wants their private information leaked out. Imagine a video of yourself doing the things you do behind closed doors all over social media?

 One thing with Kenyans, especially a deadly gang called Kenyans On Twitter, famously known as #KOT, they are unforgiving and quite salty. You wouldn’t want to be at the receiving end of their backlash.

Auto posting and sending messages is one of the easiest ways to find out when your account is hacked. So how do you get hacked when you have the strongest password? Curiosity killed the cat, right?

Those captivating links from your friends, those notifications pop up that someone tagged you in a photo, or click here to find out when you will die are the simplest way to give a total stranger access to your private messages, contacting your friends, abusing your Facebook page, and deleting your personal information.

Typically, clicking on these link redirects to a website that spread malware. Once this is done, chances of recovering your account are arguably minimal. So, what do you do when this happens?

Damage control! Although it might be a little bit too late, there a few helpful things that you can try.

Change/Reset your password immediately

Changing your password logs you out on all various platforms that are linked to your account.

Remove all the suspicious applications

Some of the applications that we innocently install can hijack our accounts and compromise your data.

Lastly, inform your friends what’s going on. This will also prevent or protect their account from malicious attacks.