LinkedIn Security Breach: How I Lost My Profile and Contacts

1. My LinkedIn profile has been stolen

I am angry and freaking out. LinkedIn has recently gained more popularity in Vietnam since other digital platform promotion costs, like Facebook, have increased. Previously, it was meant for people to connect for no reason and later attracted more professionals. Many businesses have tried to migrate to LinkedIn or TikTok.

2. Concerns Over LinkedIn Privacy and User Protection

I first thought it was due to my carelessness. Upon closer investigation, there was a public fraud six months ago, and in the past week of July 2023, many people had their LinkedIn accounts stolen and changed to Chinese names (image below). For more info, LinkedIn Breach Said to Have Exposed Data of Over 700 Million Users

The hacker changed my account name to Sally Wong; a couple of Sally W.'s profiles are on Linkedin. Why has the security gone unnoticed? Many claim they lost their account forever; some say they regained it after a week.

3. Important Alert

If you see LinkedIn posts from 28 Jul 2023 till 25 Aug 2023, know it is not me. To avoid confusion, I am writing to assure you that any posts from this website are genuine. I need help recovering my profile due to the slow response from LinkedIn's customer service team. Meanwhile, it caused my friends to notice and report that stolen profile. Thus, LinkedIn deactivated my stolen LinkedIn account.

I recommend enabling two-factor authentication on your LinkedIn account immediately.

For anyone with similar issues with my stolen account, please contact me via email or here.

4. Update (26 Aug 2023): Recovery and Tips for LinkedIn Security

Hello, today I successfully regained access to my LinkedIn account. I had to update the information that was changed by a hacker. It took the customer support team approximately one month to help me recover my account. I discovered that the hacker had attempted to use my profile to connect with more C-level professionals, which surprised me. They were quite ambitious in their goals.

Here are some tips to recover your accounts:

1. Don't create a Duplicate Email LinkedIn Account: Submit the request and wait for a response from LinkedIn's Customer Support team LinkedIn CS
   The hacker probably removed your old email with his email. Create a new LinkedIn account using another email to fill in the report below :
    

   Reporting Account Access Issue Form

   Whose account are you reporting?*

   My account

   Are you locked out of your account?*

   Yes

   First name of the profile you are reporting*

   Last name of the profile you are reporting*

   Email address of the profile you are reporting

   URL of the profile you are reporting

   Please select the reason that best describes why you suspect the account is compromised*

   Name or the content on the profile page has changed/removed.

   More Details*

2. Verify email authenticity: When dealing with emails, especially those claiming to be from LinkedIn support, double-check the email address. Make sure it matches the legitimate LinkedIn support email linkedin_support@cs.linkedin.com
3. Beware of hacker contact: If you receive unsolicited messages or requests, exercise caution, as hackers may use leaked information to deceive you. Do not trust any Facebook comments claiming to offer prompt account recovery by contacting supposed experts.
4. Remove Sign-In from Google or Facebook: This reduces the potential attack surface and limits possible access points for hackers.
5. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): When signing in, this adds an additional verification step, such as a temporary code sent to your mobile device.
6. Remove suspicious software from untrusted sources such as call recorders etc. This can help prevent security breaches.

If you found this sharing useful, give it a thumbs-up by clicking the Like button. If you have a similar experience to share, drop a comment.
During the period when I lost access, hackers changed all profile info and left behind the following content: LOL

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