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Social media hacking is when a person works out or steals the password to your social media account to log in without you knowing. Once they're in, they can change your contact details, and suddenly you can find yourself locked out of your own account. What sometimes happens then, if it's a scammer who has done this, is that they then contact you and claim that if you pay them money, they will give you the account back, but even if you did pay the money, it's likely they would just demand more and never give the account back.

How to protect yourself:

Set strong passwords for everything, not just social media, because it makes it harder for hackers to use technology to crack the code. Always use passwords which are over 8 letters or numbers in total, with at least one capital letter and one 'special character', like ! or ?

Make sure you have 'two factor authentication' (sometimes shortened as 2FA) set up on your social media accounts and anywhere else you can. This is a complicated name for a simple thing - it just means that there are at least 2 ways for you to prove who you are and access your account. This can be an email address plus a mobile number for example.

2. Account recovery scams
If you post that your account has been hacked, another thing that can happen is that other scammers can then reply offering to help you regain access in return for a small fee, but this is also a scam called an 'account recovery scam'. What can happen here is that the small fee, if you paid it, could become more and more money, and you wouldn't get the access to your account that was promised.

How to protect yourself:

It's best-practice to keep your social media profile set to private and to not accept friend or message requests from anyone you don't know.

If you have been hacked:

Don't blame yourself - it can happen to anyone. It's important that you tell a trusted adult what's happening so they can support you.

Get in touch with the company (e.g. Instagram, TikTok) who control the account. Tell them you have been hacked and have lost control of your account.

Change the passwords of any other accounts you have which might use the same one as the hacked account, to avoid the scammers gaining control of them too.

3. Phishing
Phishing scams usually come in the form of a message, like an email, DM or a text. These messages come from scammers who want to get you to type in your personal information like email addresses and login passwords. They do it so they can then use it to scam you or they sell your information to someone who will.

Phishing messages will usually contain a few key things which can help you spot them:

A link for you to click on, which might be suspicious because it is unfamiliar or misspelled.

A prize to be claimed, 'you've won a new iPhone!', or a threat which suggests you need to take action quickly before something bad happens 'log in now or your videos will be deleted!'

Requests for information like login details, email addresses, your date of birth, address or phone number, which impersonate (are pretending to come from) a company or organisation you're familiar with.

How to stay safe from phishing attacks:

Never click on links in emails, direct messages or texts which you aren't expecting.

Scammers don't just use them for phishing, there is also a chance that by clicking you'll end up with viruses or malware (computer software designed to do harm) which can damage your computer or phone.

Always be suspicious of what you see online, whether it's in your email inbox, your DMs or sent to you publicly. Even if it might seem to be harmless it's better to be safe than sorry.

If you aren't sure if a message is a phishing attempt, ask a responsible adult like a parent or guardian.

Ways to stay safe
It's important to have some tools you can use to spot scams - because they come in all shapes and sizes. There's more information on the different types of scams out there on the BBC's Be Scam Safe website. Being scammed can be really upsetting, but it's important to understand that it can happen to anyone and there are plenty of things you can do to protect yourself. Here's a reminder of some of them:

Anything you aren't expecting - whether it's a DM, phone call, email, text or notification online - should be viewed with caution until you're sure it's safe. If you're not sure, always ask your parent, guardian or other trusted adult for a second opinion.

Age restrictions are there for a reason - check the restriction on any social media, gaming or other platform before you sign up and make sure it's appropriate for your age.

Always set strong passwords.

Make sure you have 'two factor authentication' set up on your social media and other accounts.

Keep your profile set to private and don't accept friend or message requests from anyone you don't know.

If you do get a message from someone you don't know, make sure you let a parent, carer or other trusted adult know.

Block and delete anyone that makes you feel uncomfortable in any way. You can also report users and the social media or gaming platform you're using should have advice on how to do this.

Learn to verify messages you receive. You can check if an email really comes from the organisation or person it claims by tapping or clicking on the sender's name. If it comes from an organisation, it should have the organisation's real web address in the second part after the @ e.g. firstname.surname@bbc.com

Learn the warning signs that feature in many scams. Are you being made to feel under pressure by the person? Are they asking you to do something unusual, like sending money? If the answer is yes, make sure you let a trusted adult know.

Never meet someone IRL you've only met online.

Talk about scams
Dr Alison Attrill-Smith is a cyberpsychologist who specialises in scams at the University of Birmingham. 'If you are scammed,' she says, 'it isn't because you're bad or didn't pay attention.' It's quite normal to feel silly, embarrassed, or even ashamed when we believe we have been scammed.

According to Dr Alison, 'Being scared to tell someone about the scam may also make you feel anxious or worried', but it's important to tell a trusted adult if you feel you've been scammed or that someone has tried to scam you. Remember that scammers want you to feel this way so that you don't share your experience with anyone else.

'We can't make scams go away,' says Dr Alison, 'but we can't fear them. Learning to protect yourself is key.' By getting to know what the warning signs are and, most importantly, sharing the information we learn, we can all be safe from scammers of all kinds.

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3 common online scams and how you can protect yourself from them

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We take a look at some common online scams and look at the things you can do to help keep yourself safe.

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Self Compassion Resources Dr. Kristen Neff

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Discover the power of self-compassion with Kristin Neff. Join our community and explore the benefits of practicing self-compassion together.

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Self Compassion Guided practice on Working through Difficult Emotions.

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Why take Yale's most popular course? | The Science of Well-Being for Teens | Dr. Laurie Santos

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Why take Yale's most popular course? | The Science of Well-Being for Teens | Dr. Laurie Santos

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Anyone can be bullied or trolled on social media. It can be really hard to know what to do if it happens to you or someone you know. We can help you to cope and report the bullying.

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Being compassionate towards others means showing love and kindness to people who are going through a difficult time. You might listen to their worries, make them a cup of tea and listen to them talk about whatever they're struggling with, and reassure them that you'll be there for them if they need you. But it's often harder for us to show the same level of care to ourselves, or to show ourselves some self-compassion.

Practicing self-compassion can help improve our mental health, our day-to-day life, and can benefit us greatly by helping to build our resilience. Once you start being self-compassionate, it often gets easier to do, and after a while it can become part of our daily routine.

How to practice self-compassion

Becoming self-compassionate takes time and effort, but it can greatly improve our wellbeing. So what obstacles do you face in being compassionate with ourselves, how can you practice self-compassion, and what are the benefits?

Some obstacles you might face

Being compassionate with yourself isn't always the easiest thing to do. You might feel awkward at first practicing self-compassion or you might not know where to start. Some other things might prevent you from doing so, like:

Being used to judging yourself all the time for how you feel, for the negative in things in your life or for not achieving what you wanted to achieve

Previous life experiences where you didn't treat yourself kindly

Feeling uncomfortable with the idea of caring for yourself

Being around others who make you doubt yourself

Being unsure of how to begin is normal. You can start small with practicing being kind to yourself. Bit by bit, self-compassion can become easier through daily practice and soon you can start to see the benefits.

Ways to show ourselves self-compassion

There are lots of little ways you can practice self-compassion, like taking the time to have a quiet moment each day to reflect on how you're doing and not judging yourself for how you're feeling.

Some might take up more time than others and there's no one right way to practice self-compassion, so choose what feels possible and best for you.

Some things you could start doing include:

Accepting that you are only human, you are not perfect and you are doing your best

Acknowledging that everyone struggles with parts of themselves and their lives so, if you're struggling that means you're just as human as everyone around you

Practicing mindfulness and being aware of your experiences without judgement

Taking mistakes on board and thinking about them as ways to grow and learn, without being too hard on yourself

Setting boundaries for yourself and knowing when something is too much to handle

Trying to speak to yourself as you would a friend, being gentle and kind

What are the benefits?

Research shows there are many benefits of self-compassion that it can often improve our overall wellbeing, mental health, and how connected we feel to those around us.

Through self-compassion, you can boost your resilience, emotional intelligence, happiness, optimism and life satisfaction. Self-compassion can also lead to lower levels of stress, depression, anxiety and fear of failure.

Feeling overwhelmed or want to talk to someone right now?

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Being compassionate towards others means showing love and kindness to people who are going through a difficult time. You might listen to their worries, make them a cup of tea and listen to them talk about whatever they're struggling with, and reassure them that you'll be there for them if they need you.

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The Countdowns Return - British UK Voice For Sleep - Guided Meditation (Full Version)

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The Countdowns Return - British UK Voice For Sleep - Guided Meditation (Full Version)

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Guided Help With Uncertainty - Meditation - Soothe Nervous System - Reuben UK - V2

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Guided Help With Uncertainty - Meditation - Soothe Nervous System - Reuben UK - V2

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Guided Help For Tough Times - Feeling Fearful - Soothe Nervous System (Meditation Reuben v1)

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Guided Help For Tough Times - Feeling Fearful - Soothe Nervous System (Meditation Reuben v1)