What to Do When an Online Account Is Hacked
Use an unaffected device or channel where possible, protect the connected email and phone, preserve login alerts and messages, use the platform’s official recovery process, notify a bank where payment loss is continuing, and obtain legal advice about complaint and preservation routes.
Confidential preliminary intake. Submission does not create a lawyer-client relationship or protect a deadline.
Last legally reviewed:
First actions
- Protect immediate personal safety.
- Secure connected email, phone and unaffected accounts.
- Preserve access alerts, session records, messages, URLs and transaction evidence.
Avoid making it worse
- Do not pay someone who guarantees restoration.
- Do not share OTPs, recovery codes or passwords.
- Avoid wiping the only relevant device before evidence needs are considered.
Legal route
- Assess platform, bank, employer, contract, NCCIA and court routes according to the facts.
- No restoration, investigation or takedown outcome is guaranteed.
Legal and regulatory sources checked
These links support the general regulatory statements above. The operative instrument, facts and publication date must still be reviewed for a specific matter.
- NCCIA complaint guidance
- NCCIA complaint portal
- Pakistan Code — Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, as amended
Last legally reviewed:
Questions and careful answers
Should every device be reset immediately?
Containment is important, but indiscriminate wiping can remove useful records. A qualified technical professional may be needed for a business or serious incident.
Request a focused preliminary assessment.
Share only the essential parties, Pakistan connection, matter type and deadline. Do not send passwords, OTPs, private keys, seed phrases, identity documents, intimate material or confidential evidence through the public form.
Legal work begins only after conflict checks, identity verification, agreed scope, fee confirmation, and written engagement. No complaint, investigation, filing, recovery, licence, approval, injunction, bail, takedown or other outcome is guaranteed.