Someone offers to get your account back for a fee: what's behind it

How to tell if this is you

It almost always plays out the same way. An account gets disabled or suspended, you mention it somewhere or people just notice, and within hours the DMs start: "I work with Meta's team," "I recover accounts in 24 hours," "Money-back guarantee." If any of this sounds familiar, this guide is for you:

• Someone you don't know reaches out offering to recover your account.
• They want payment up front, often in crypto, gift cards or a bank transfer.
• They ask for your password, a verification code, or for you to log in through their link.
• They rush you: "If we don't do it today, it's gone for good."

Bans and why they happen are covered in why creator accounts get banned; here we focus on not losing anything else.

What they say vs. what's really going on

The official route, platform by platform (free)

The rule is the same everywhere: one well-written appeal, then patience. If that doesn't work, no third party is going to fix it for you.

The most expensive mistakes

1. Paying out of desperation

Losing an account you spent years building hurts, and scammers know it: they show up right at that moment. Fix: give yourself 24 hours before deciding anything, and go the official route first.

2. Handing over your password "just to take a look"

With your password they can get into other accounts where you reuse it, change your recovery email or ask your contacts for money while posing as you. Fix: a unique password per account plus two-factor authentication; we explain it in how to lock down your accounts.

3. Sharing a code you got by text or email

That code is the key to your account. Anyone asking for it wants to get in. Fix: codes never get shared, not even with someone claiming to be support.

4. Believing "support" reaches out by DM

Messages claiming to be from a platform's team that ask for your details or a payment are one of the most common scams. Fix: look for the notice inside the app or on your account status, never in a link someone sends you. More examples in scams creators get in their DMs.

5. Opening a new account to get around the suspension

It's not a scam, but the same "expert" often suggests it. To platforms, creating accounts to dodge a penalty is ban evasion, and it makes your case worse. Fix: follow what to do on day one of a ban.

If you've already paid or shared details

1. Change the password on the affected account, your email and any account where you used the same one.
2. Turn on two-factor authentication everywhere, with an authenticator app if you can.
3. Review active logins on each platform and log out any you don't recognize.
4. Call your bank if you paid by card or transfer, and ask whether you can dispute the charge.
5. Report the profile that messaged you on that platform, and keep screenshots.
6. Go the official route for the suspended account, as if nothing else had happened.

What NOT to do

• Don't pay a second time "to finish the job" or "to release the payment."
• Don't appeal ten times in a row: one complete, clear appeal is worth more.
• Don't buy a "similar" account with followers to replace yours: that's just buying an audience another way, and we explain why it fails in what happens when you buy followers.
• Don't give anyone access without a contract and without knowing who's behind it, agencies included: how to tell if an OnlyFans agency is legit.

Tools that actually help

• Each platform's official appeal, inside the app.
• Instagram's hacked-account page, if someone got in.
• An authenticator app for two-factor authentication.
• A dated log: when you were penalized, when you appealed and what they said.

What we never do: charge to "recover" accounts, or promise unbans. Getting an account back only happens the official way, and it's free.

Frequently asked questions