Someone else is using your account
Your line works and your chats are still on your phone, so they did not take it: they are using it from somewhere else. WhatsApp only allows that in two ways —a linked session you authorised without realising, or your number registered on another phone— and the steps below cover both.
Someone is writing in your name right now. If they have already asked one of your people for money, that is the damage in a hurry: it is lost in minutes and it is paid by people who trust you. Start by warning them.
-
Warn your contacts
The fraud almost always starts by asking three or four people you trust for money. Copy this warning and send it by SMS, another app or a call: let them know before anyone pays.
If someone is asking you for money to give the account back, do not pay. They do not have it held hostage: they are using it. Paying does not return it, it confirms you answer, and it almost always brings a second demand.
URGENT: My WhatsApp account was stolen and someone is asking for money in my name. IT IS NOT ME. Do not transfer money, do not open links that come from my account, and do not reply to those messages.
-
Log out the session you do not recognise
Everything with your account open is listed here, with its phone and its last connection. This is where the intruder lives if they came in through a QR code or a link:
- Open WhatsApp and go to Linked devices: on Android it is in the three-dot menu above the chat list; on iPhone, in Settings. If there is a session you do not recognise —a computer that is not yours, a city that is not yours— that is the door they are coming through.
- Before you close anything, check the last connection of each one and take a screenshot: that is the proof of time and place you will be asked for if you file a report.
- Now log them out one by one, and if in doubt log out of all of them: you lose nothing, your phone stays connected and it is the only device that does not depend on a linked session.
- While you are there, check your profile photo, your name and your status. It is common for them to change something so the fraud in your name looks more believable.
See where Linked devices is
Android
-
1 In the chat list, tap the three dots at the top, then Linked devices. -
2 Look at the list and tap every session you do not recognise. -
3 Tap Log out. Repeat for each one until only yours are left.
iPhone
-
1 Tap Settings, bottom right in the tab bar. -
2 Tap Linked devices. -
3 Look at the list and tap every session you do not recognise. -
4 Tap Log out. Repeat for each one until only yours are left.
Illustration. Depending on your WhatsApp version the screen may look slightly different, but the option names are the same.
Logging out on your phone does not close linked sessions. WhatsApp Web and WhatsApp Desktop stay connected for up to 14 days afterwards. They have to be logged out one by one from Linked devices.
-
Get your code by SMS
Logging the session out cuts that device off, but if your number ended up registered on another phone it has to be registered again. That registration is what expels the intruder:
- Reinstall WhatsApp and register your number again. That registration expels the intruder: as soon as you are in with the code, WhatsApp closes every other session.
- Ask for the code and choose by message, not by call. If it arrives by call, anyone with your voicemail can hear it.
- Once you are in, turn on your own two-step verification with a password you do not use anywhere else, and add a recovery email.
- Go back to Linked devices and confirm the list is down to your own. If anything is still there, log it out again.
Download official WhatsAppIf the other person turned on two-step verification, your registration will be blocked. WhatsApp will make you wait seven days before it lets you reset it, and there is no way to speed that up. It is their security protocol: try again on day seven, not before.
-
If you cannot get it back
Reporting the account you are trying to recover can backfire. WhatsApp warns about it in its own help centre: if you report it, they may block it for breaking their terms and you can lose access to your chats. Try to recover it first, and use these channels only if you can no longer get in.
Open the official WhatsApp formThe fastest route
- Open WhatsApp on your phone and go to Settings → Help and feedback → Contact us. That chat does reach support and stays linked to your number.
- If you cannot open the app because the account is no longer yours, use the form on the button: it is the other channel WhatsApp recognises as official.
The form opens in your browser and asks for your number, an email address and what happened. Write from an email account you can open today.
The email to "support@whatsapp.com" does not work
Nobody reads that mailbox. WhatsApp denied it in its own help centre: emails sent to any @whatsapp.com address get no reply. If you saw it on another blog, in a video, or an official body gave it to you, that information is out of date.
Read WhatsApp official noteDid this guide help?
What was missing?
Thank you. If someone you know goes through this, send them this page.
Thanks for telling us. Now we know what to fix first.
It is anonymous: only the button you tapped is stored.
If you are also going to file a report
None of these channels returns your account: recovery is technical. They cover the crime, the impersonation and the money, and it is worth opening them today because the deadlines run from the same day.
- Guardia Nacional · 088. Guidance and cybercrime reports, every day. Save your screenshots and receipts before you call, and do not share them around.
- Mexico City cyber police · 55 5242 6489. If you are in Mexico City, they will guide you and explain how to file the report.
- Your carrier, before PROFECO. If your SIM was cloned, the complaint goes to the Telecommunications Sub-Procuracy: Concilianet or the Consumer Phone line, 55 5568 8722 and 800 468 8722. Since January 2026 carriers are required to verify your identity with official ID and CURP before handing over a duplicate. If they did not, they broke the rule.
- Your bank, today. If money moved, the deadline to dispute the charges runs from the same day. If the bank does not respond, CONDUSEF takes the complaint.
In Mexico no channel can force Meta to give your account back. The only thing that recovers it is your SIM with your number.