Hoaxes and Scams
Over the past few years, more and more Instagram users have been targeted by hackers who disguise themselves as someone you know (friend, family, instagram mutual). These scammers use familiar, friendly, and simple messages to convince you to comply with their requests. The most commonly used tactic is them claiming that they got locked out of their account and need you to tell them the code you received to your messages or email. The part they will leave out of all this is that the code is actually for your account and you only received it because they tried to log into your account and sent a password reset request.
Many people fall for this scam because it feels personal since the messages are likely coming from the profile of someone you know. Hackers will mimicking their tone/typing style, send urgent messages for help, and will always respond quickly. Once they gain access to your account they will immediately change your password and do the same thing with the mutuals that you have. Sometimes they will even go as far as to ask people to send them money.
In the end, the best way to prevent this is to be aware and able to recognize the signs. Never share any verification codes with anyone unless you are currently with the person. If something seems weird about it then just stop messaging, text/call the real person through messages and report the account. Staying cautious is the only way to protect your account and others as well.
Thank you for sharing this! I almost fell for of these last week. People need to be more aware of these scams.
Oh no, I am so glad I can help raise awareness. Good thing you didn’t fall for it.
Such an important reminder. It’s crazy how convincing these messages can look. Always double check before sending anything!
I know especially now things can look so real and it will just keep getting worse.
This happened to my friend and the hacker messaged everyone pretending to be here. Glad you’re raising awareness.
That’s horrible I hope your friend learned her lesson and can prevent it from happening again.
Great post. More people need to know that verification code are never to be shared. Thanks for breaking it down really clear.
Of course, I agree that awareness for this topic is extremely important.