What is a recycled mobile number?
Mobile numbers are not permanently assigned to individuals—they may change as people switch mobile numbers, change carriers, or use services to create new or temporary mobile numbers. Because of this, you may run into various issues relating to recycled or re-used mobile numbers on Snapchat.
Someone is using my old mobile number to hack my account
If your Snapchat account is associated with a mobile number that you no longer use, and the old number has been recycled and assigned to someone else by the mobile carrier, they may attempt to use it to log in to your account. The chances of recycling are higher if you have used a free SMS service to obtain a mobile number.
This reinforces the need to keep your mobile number up to date and to add a passkey or an email address to your account, which Snapchat will use as a second security check. If you do have an email associated with your account, you may receive a suspicious login warning that you can use to revert any account changes.
If you can’t regain access to your account to update your contact information and security settings, please contact Snapchat Support. You can also find more information about signs your account might be compromised and what you can do about it in this article.
I accidentally logged into someone else’s account using my mobile number
If you have recently changed mobile numbers, and you try to log in to Snapchat, you may accidentally log in to a Snapchat account that belongs to a different person who used to have the same mobile number, if they have not used other security features to protect the account.
This happens when your mobile carrier assigns you a number that was previously used to set up a Snapchat account. Unfortunately, Snapchat doesn’t have clear visibility into when mobile numbers are re-assigned.
It is against our Terms of Service to log in to another user’s account without permission. So if this happens, we recommend that you log out and remove the account from your device by following the steps below.
- Tap the gear icon ⚙️ in My Profile to open Settings
- Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘Log Out’
- Find and tap the option to ‘Remove account’ underneath the other user’s Bitmoji and username
Once you have logged out of the other user’s account and removed it from your device, you can sign up for a new account with your mobile number. Tap ‘Signup’ at the bottom of the screen and follow the prompts in the app.
A friend suggestion looks like someone is pretending to be my friend
If your friend got a new mobile number, but your contact book still has the old number, and that number has been recycled by the carrier and assigned to another Snapchatter, you can see an unfamiliar account that appears to be using your friend’s display name show up in your friend suggestions.
When this happens, you’re seeing an old display name, not the most current information on that account. Nobody else will have the same experience, since it comes from your contact book upload, which is private to you. You can keep your contact book up-to-date to prevent confusion when your friends’ old mobile numbers get recycled.
If someone is posting stolen content or actively claiming to be someone you know, you can report their content or account for impersonation right in the Snapchat app. Or if that isn’t an option, you can also reach out to us online.