For both users and businesses, Instagram is one of the most popular social networking channels. It is a great platform to share photos and videos with followers, close friends, and customers. Therefore, their Instagram account is important to a lot of people and businesses. (
Alprazolam) Unfortunately, scammers know this and are eager to take all the money away from users.
Generally speaking, scams on Instagram may happen when people create fake accounts or hack into existing accounts. They then use these accounts to trick users into giving them personal information or money.
Here are some things you want to watch out for:
- People asking for money – for no reason or to receive a loan, prize, or other winnings.
- Accounts representing important or large companies or public figures that are not verified.
- Instagram accounts purporting to be from Instagram security request personal or account information.
- People claim to have a relative or friend in an emergency.
- Messages from a company or friend you know ask you to click on a suspicious link.
- Messages with poor spelling and grammatical mistakes.
- Profiles that have a brief history on the platform.
- Accounts that offer products or services at an extremely discounted price.
What to do if you see something you think is a scam.
When noticing something that may be a scam, you should always avoid responding and report the scam on Instagram.
Common types of scams.
- Loan scams: This happens when an account messages or leaves comments offering instant loans at a low-interest rate for a small advance fee.
- Lottery scams: This is often carried out by accounts impersonating someone you know or an organization, claiming that you are among the winners of a lottery. They typically ask for a small advance fee to “receive the prize or money”.
- Romance scams: These kinds of scammers impersonate someone you don’t know, pretending to be divorced, widowed, or in distress. They engage in an online relationship, claiming to need money, typically for flights.
- Job scams: Through this type of scam, people use misleading or fake job postings to get personal information or money.
- False investment scams: Some accounts may promise unrealistic monetary benefits, such as converting a small amount of money into a larger sum, and soliciting money from you.
- Phishing scam: Phishing may happen when someone tries to get access to your Instagram account by sending suspicious messages or links that ask for your personal information.
Latest scams on Instagram.
Although the scams previously mentioned are the most common on Instagram, there are two new kinds of scams reported on the platform:
- A message asking for help to win a contest: This kind of scam has been seen several times on Instagram, where a person receives a direct message, generally from someone you know, urging them to vote for the user in a random contest.The scammer may send a link; if the link is broken, they will ask for a cell phone number, which they will use to hack into your account.In other instances, the scammer may ask for a screenshot of you voting for them in the contest.
It is important not to reply to these kinds of messages, even though it may seem like the message is genuine and from a person you might know. Once they hack one account, they message the owner’s contacts and followers, anticipating they are more likely to open a link or give information if it comes from someone they may know.
The scammers are likely to ask for money in order to give the account back to the owner.
- Another way of scamming people or businesses is through an email or Instagram Direct Message claiming that the user has violated copyright law and that the account will be deleted. The message urges people to click a link and enter login details. This way, the scammers will have access to the account, locking out the owner.It is important to know that Instagram doesn’t send direct messages about one’s account in the Instagram app. To help identify fake emails, you can view official Instagram emails sent within the last 14 days from the app settings.
We know your Instagram account is important to you and your business, which is why you need to keep an eye on any message or comment you get and double-check that people or companies are who they say they are.
