As it is one of the most popular digital music, podcast, and video services, a hacked Spotify account may be a real struggle. Users pay for their accounts, while hackers target them to take advantage of the amount of users and money on the platform.
The main reasons villains attack the platform
There are a few reasons why hackers target these accounts. Some of them just abuse existing accounts to gain free access to a premium paid service. But most of the time they would still let the true owners still use it. This is because they try to avoid raising any suspicions.
Some other times, they decide to change the credentials and use the victim’s linked credit cards to upgrade the subscription. Or they just might want to sell these credentials to other hackers.
Another reason might target the manipulation of streaming numbers. Thus, they can significantly boost the revenue for some obscure tracks, so that the artist would earn more.
Still, free accounts are not out of their range. In this case, villains collect data to use in future phishing attacks. Or they target the accounts of the same users on other platforms.
It also happens that Sometimes, attackers also target artists, mainly high-profile ones, for spreading political manifestos. This happened in 2020 when a hacker did this to boost support for Donald Trump. Here is what BBC reported at that time about the incident.
Now, you know the reason, so let’s see how to discover if this happened to your account.
How to spot if you have a hacked Spotify account
If attackers do not block access to your account, you might think you are safe. Still, this might not be necessarily true. So, keep an eye on the following signs:
- Randomly playing tracks.
- Modified or missing playlists.
- Unfamiliar songs in your ‘Recently’ Played list.
- Any notification about suspicious activity.
- Not owned social accounts connected to your account.
- Any subscription changes you have not done.
- Being logged out of all devices.
- Not working credentials.
So, if you notice any of these, we strongly advise you to take the necessary steps.
What to do?
If you notice any of the above signs, it’s time to take steps:
- Check the status of your account. Thus, you can make sure your email address and subscription have not been changed. Review your contact information: Login > Settings > Account > Check the email address.
If you notice anything suspicious, contact Spotify Support.
Review your receipts and subscription plan: Settings > Account > Receipts. If there is anything suspicious, contact the Spotify Support.
Hacked Spotify account? Here is what to do!
If you can still access your account but have reasons to suspect that it was hacked, take the next steps:
- Reset your password: Access the Spotify Password Reset page > Insert your email address > Click Send. Open the link in the email, and choose a strong password.
- Log out of all connected devices: Settings > Account Overview > Sign out everywhere.
- Disconnect all the social accounts and apps: Settings > Account > Apps > Remove access. Change your passwords before reconnecting them.
Recovering your account
Either your username or password has been changed, contact the Spotify support. Prepare yourself for quite a long process, as they would require documentation to prove your identity.
Once you recover your account, you might want to recover your playlists, too. For this, go to:
- Settings
- Account
- Recover playlists.
Now, you should be able to access your favourite music.
To avoid this happening again:
- Set a strong and unique password.
- Do not share your account.
- Do not fall into hackers’ trap, and only use official clients.
- Use a trusted security software in place.
- Do not trust emails pretending to be from the provider, that ask you to go through links, to verify your details.
Now, you know the dangers and are aware of the ways to react if anything happens to your account. So, you should never become a victim, and enjoy your favourite music.
