Shopping & subscriptions

Ulta Beauty account hacked? Here’s what to do

Move fast and in the right order: reclaim the account through Ulta Beauty’s official flow, kick the attacker out of every session, then close the door they came through — usually a password that leaked in a breach and was reused.

ByNikita Silianov· Founder & CEO ·LinkedIn
Quick answer

If your Ulta Beauty account was hacked: start recovery at the official page (www.ulta.com/guest-services), change the password to a unique one, sign out all other sessions, and re-check the recovery email and phone on the account. Then find out how the attacker got in — check whether your password appears in known breach data — and turn on two-factor authentication so it can’t happen again.

Recover your Ulta Beauty account, step by step

These steps follow Ulta Beauty’s official process. Official links only: account recovery.

1

Reset the password and review orders, rewards points and addresses.

2

Cancel fraudulent orders (especially pickups) and remove unknown payment methods.

3

Report via guest services for points restoration.

4

Dispute charges with your bank.

What trips people up with Ulta Beauty

  • Ultamate Rewards points convert to money off purchases and get drained via in-store pickup orders collected by the attacker - the pickup store location exposes the fraud.
  • Stored cards fund product orders shipped to new addresses; verify addresses on recent orders.

Still logged in? Lock the account down now

If you can still get in, you're racing the attacker. In this order: change the password to a long, unique one; sign out all other sessions/devices (the setting exists in Ulta Beauty's security settings); confirm the recovery email and phone number are yours (attackers quietly add their own so they can "recover" the account later); remove unfamiliar linked apps or API access; and turn on two-factor authentication. Only then deal with anything the attacker posted, sent or bought.

Locked out of Ulta Beauty — email or phone was changed

This is the worst-case scenario and the most common complaint: the attacker changed the account email, phone number or password so the normal reset flow emails them, not you. Do NOT keep triggering password resets — they go to the hacker. Go straight to Ulta Beauty's dedicated recovery flow (link above), which is built for exactly this case: it verifies you by your original signup details, previous passwords, linked devices or a government ID / selfie check, bypassing the stolen email. Watch for the security notice Ulta Beauty sent to your OLD email when the address was changed — it usually contains a "revert this change" link that works for a limited time and is the fastest way back in.

Got a "new login" alert from Ulta Beauty?

Treat it as real but verify it the safe way: never tap the link in the message itself (fake login alerts are a top phishing template for Ulta Beauty). Open the app or type the address yourself, check the active-sessions list in security settings, and if you see a device or location you don't recognize, sign it out and change your password immediately. If the alert was genuine, that password is burned — assume it's circulating and change it everywhere else you reused it.

The attacker spent, moved or stole orders, gift-card balance or loyalty rewards

Document everything first (screenshots of orders, trades or transfers, with dates), then report it through Ulta Beauty's official support flow — platforms restore fraudulent purchases and stolen orders, gift-card balance or loyalty rewards case-by-case, and a clean, dated report is what gets approved. If a card or bank account was charged, dispute the charges with the issuer as unauthorized. Change the password on the email account attached to Ulta Beauty too — if the attacker owns your inbox, they'll just take the account back.

Why this happened — and how to make sure it can’t again

About a third of account takeovers are credential stuffing: a password you used on Ulta Beauty (or the email behind it) leaked in some other company’s breach, and attackers replayed it here automatically. The FBI’s IC3 logged over 5,100 account-takeover complaints with $262M in losses in 2025 alone (IC3). Even when Ulta Beauty itself was never breached, your reused password from another site opens it.

So after recovery, check what’s already out there: our free scanner shows which known breaches and dark-web dumps include your email — and whether passwords were exposed with it.

Check my exposure — free →

After you recover: three doors to close

  1. Unique password + 2FA. A password manager plus app-based two-factor stops both stuffing and phishing replays.
  2. Reset everywhere you reused that password — email first (it’s the master key), then bank, then the rest.
  3. Shrink your public footprint. Attackers research targets on data-broker sites (your address, phone, relatives — enough to social-engineer support lines). Our free opt-out guide covers 190 of them, step by step.
Common questions

Hacked Ulta Beauty account, answered

How did my Ulta Beauty account get hacked?

The most common cause isn't a hack of Ulta Beauty itself — it's credential stuffing: a password you used on Ulta Beauty leaked from some other site's breach, and attackers tried it here automatically. Roughly a third of account takeovers happen this way, with phishing (fake Ulta Beauty login pages and alerts) close behind. That's why the first fix is a unique password, not just a new one.

Can I get my Ulta Beauty account back?

Usually yes. Use the official recovery flow (https://www.ulta.com/guest-services) — it can verify you even when the attacker changed the email and password. Be patient and respond quickly to follow-ups so the case stays open.

Should I just make a new Ulta Beauty account instead?

Not until you've tried recovery. The old account keeps your history and contacts — and while the attacker controls it, it will be used to scam people who trust you. Recover it, or at minimum report it as compromised so Ulta Beauty can lock it, before you start over.

The hacker placed orders or drained gift cards on my Ulta Beauty account — now what?

Report the orders as unauthorized through Ulta Beauty's support, dispute any card charges with your bank, and check saved addresses and payment methods for ones the attacker added. Loyalty points and gift-card balances are a favorite target because people don't watch them like a bank account — screenshot balances and include them in the report.

How do I stop my Ulta Beauty account being hacked again?

Three things close most of the doors: a unique password (a manager makes this painless), app-based two-factor authentication, and shrinking your exposed footprint — checking your email against known breach databases and removing your personal data from data-broker sites that attackers use to research targets.