Currently, almost all popular social networks are often used by scammers for their own purposes, resorting to various illegal methods.
For those who want to learn how to recognize a scam Instagram scam and protect yourself from its consequences, this article will be useful.
Common Instagram scams
You can verify the prevalence of such techniques on the relevant site by using a simple query in an Internet search engine.
Each method of deception has its own specifics, which gullible and careless users usually cannot recognize, becoming victims of insidious attackers.
We can give examples of several types of Instagram fraud that have now become widespread.
Fake sweepstakes and giveaways
This method involves scammers using the names of well-known brands. On behalf of these brands, which have already earned the trust of consumers and have a solid reputation, fraudsters offer fake offers to potential customers.
For example, it could be promises of discounts up to 99% or announcements of giveaways for gift certificates for significant amounts. By involving in relevant promotions, which is nothing more than Instagram scam, their unscrupulous initiators offer and impose the condition of paid participation in these events.
A similar category of scams by scammers include so-called “last-minute sales.” They create payment pages that look legitimate at first glance, but are designed to rip off their victims.
Fake accounts of famous people or brands
Another method that cybercriminals do not disdain on this social network is creating doppelganger profiles that have a wide audience of fans or supporters.
This could be creating copies of accounts of various celebrities: from sports teams to popular pop and film stars. In the case of this Instagram scams Cybercriminals impersonate prominent communities or individuals.
First, scammers recruit followers and friends in a suitable way, and after doing so, they claim that a real account has been hacked and that a new profile needs to be created because of this. The attackers report that hackers have stolen all the money from their bank account and ask users to send them the necessary funds.
Many followers fulfill this request, believing that they can be of use to the victims.
Quick money making offers
They are advertisements from unknown accounts about well-paid remote work or messages about monetary payments "for every like."
This kind Instagram scam is a typical scheme that often works thanks to users' trust and desire to earn money.
Sometimes the first step of false employers is to send concise, undetailed messages about part-time work in this messenger.
In other cases, scammers may offer to write a review or comment or like a certain video, music track, page, or product for a reward of 30, 50, or 100 hryvnias.
The condition for receiving payment is confirmation of the executed option by screenshot and notification of bank card details. As a result of such correspondence, seekers of easy income, as a rule, first really receive a symbolic amount of money, and then lose their own funds.
Thieves who have thus hooked the victim demand a deposit from them in exchange for continued cooperation. This kind of popular fraud schemes in Instagram They promise their participants further tasks for a subscription fee or require an even larger deposit to receive the earned funds.
After the person deposits the money, the contacts of the fraudulent employers disappear along with the stolen money.
Phishing and account theft
This type of scam is one of the most sophisticated types of cyber fraud. Its goal is to gain illegal access to the user's personal data that requires confidentiality.
A phishing attack involves sending emails on behalf of banking institutions and well-known online services asking for confirmation of account details, credit card numbers, or other information that should not be disclosed.
For those who want to be informed, How scammers work on Instagram, who resort to phishing, you should be aware that the emails they send report an unauthorized login to the owner's profile and contain a viral link that supposedly requires a password reset. This data is redirected to a fake social network login page.
As a result, cybercriminals steal credentials, thus gaining access to the portfolio.
Another type of phishing scam involves reporting a problem that is caused by copyright infringement. To resolve the problem, the scammers encourage the account owner to fill out a special form. However, when the victim clicks on the form via their link, they end up on a fake login page.
It also happens that cybercriminals impersonate Instagram support staff and contact the victim via private messages.
Shopping in fraudulent online stores
Talking about the most common scams on Instagram, the topic of online trading cannot be ignored.
The process of creating a full-fledged website for a trading company is quite laborious and costly - it requires filling the site with content and adding many necessary attributes.
It's much easier to create a trading "point" in a messenger app. This is what attackers use.
Although you can now buy any product on the Instagram social network, there are many unscrupulous sellers on this platform who leave prospective buyers without the promised goods and without money.
A hallmark of rogue stores is the requirement for full payment for the goods in advance, while honest online stores often take a purely symbolic prepayment, which is combined with a cash on delivery. In this case, the customer pays the balance when receiving their order in the mail.
Crypto fraud in Instagram
This type of fraud is difficult to detect on the social network in question. The technique involves the fraudster posing as a trusted investor or a well-known online figure. By betting on trust, he officially collects a large number of followers.
Once the necessary audience has been gathered, communication with future victims begins - they are offered investment proposals that supposedly yield significant profits. To make such an "investment," they are encouraged to simply click on a link.
Since crypto scammers use hidden links to quite accurately imitate legitimate trading sites, users who have been scammed begin to understand their situation too late.
"Romantic" scam
These types of scammers start building relationships with those they intend to scam in the comments section of Instagram posts. Their primary goal is to gain the victims’ trust. Then, the scammers move on to their own DMs and continue communicating with the naive interlocutors, using manipulative tactics.
They challenge their interlocutors to be frank, offering themselves as a “vest in which to cry.” They pretend to share their own experiences and secrets, trying to bring the level of such communication to the most intimate. When they succeed, they demand to send them unacceptable content, for example, a nude photo. The reason is to prove their commitment.
When the romantic scammer gets what he wants, he takes off the mask of a friend or lover and begins to blackmail the victim by saying that he will use the received photo to incriminate her. At the same time, he directly demands money.
Sometimes criminals pretend to be victims - asking for financial support, for example, to buy tickets to come to their interlocutor and meet with him.
How to protect yourself from Instagram scams
To do this, you must always act cautiously, responsibly, and thoughtfully, not giving in to your emotions, but guided by logic and common sense.
For people who are interested, how to avoid fraud in Instagram, It is worth taking into account several recommendations:
- You should never, under any pretext, provide your personal information online to anyone.
- Remember that having a large number of followers is not proof that an account is legitimate. They can be tricked by bots.
- It is best to ignore investment advice on Instagram about buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It is worth consulting with a qualified financial expert before transferring your funds to anyone.
- You should be extremely careful when clicking on links. You should not trust emails and unsolicited e-mails from this social network. You can also protect yourself from scammers and hackers by setting up two-factor authentication.
- You should avoid communicating with strangers online and never send them cash, no matter how tearfully or demandingly they ask for it.
- Regular monitoring of your inbox for spam should be mandatory. Unwanted, suspicious, and questionable contacts should be blocked and deleted immediately.
- You should not give intimate information about yourself and photos that could become the subject of compromising information to strangers you do not know personally.
- If you receive a message on Instagram from a friend asking for financial help, it's best to call the friend back immediately. There's a good chance that you're being blackmailed by criminals on their behalf.
- You should be wary of unnaturally attractive offers.
- Often, a fraudulent seller is given away by the fact that he forbids marking his profile. And you can check his account by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner and selecting the "account information" item. The result will be the appearance of information about the date of creation of this page, the country of location and its previous names.
What to do if you've been scammed on Instagram
According to sources, scammers on this social network managed to defraud more than 100 thousand people of a total of approximately 770$ million. Such large-scale losses occur as a result of the actions of the criminals in question.
At the same time, attackers are constantly improving their fraudulent schemes and inventing new methods to deceive unwary users.
According to experts, people who don't know, What to do if you have been cheated on Instagram, the following algorithm of actions is recommended:
- reviewing the official guidelines on Instagram's recommendations page;
- reporting criminal activity to competent authorities;
- communicating with your bank – in some cases, this financial institution may be able to help the affected client.
In such situations, contact the police department that deals with combating cybercrime in your region.
The scammers' account must be blocked. To do this, click on the three dots in the upper right corner, select "Report", and then "This is spam."
Instagram fraud is reported using the following algorithm: Settings – Help – Report a problem – Report spam or violation.
Screenshots are attached as evidence of fraudulent activity in this situation.
How to check an Instagram page for fraud?
To do this, you need to find out if your email address has been changed. This is done in the following sequence.
- Click on the "Forgot your password?" item below the "Login" field.
- Enter the name of your own acanthus in the window that appears, and then click "Next".
- After the system offers recovery options, select the "Send email" option.
- The correspondence of the email address indicated in this notification is assessed.
If this email is not the same as yours, it means that your Instagram account is hacked because its email address has already been changed.
If the email address to which the user's Instagram page is linked has not been changed, you should use the "Forgot your password" option. After activating it, you will receive a new password by email. Then all that remains is to change it.
