Beware! Instagram scam and phishing

Team Udayavani, Mar 25, 2021, 11:06 AM IST

Source: Unsplash

Instagram scams have been making rounds for a long time now, but this new scam is targeted at Instagram influencers. The cybercriminals impersonating brand managers are duping the sponsors and robbing them of their personal details such as banking details, address, phone numbers, etc.

As per reports, the scammers are exploiting the popularity of the influencers, and that cyber criminals pretend to be known brands and offer influencers an advertising deal. If the influencer is unlucky enough to believe that the deal they are receiving is legitimate, they hand over their personal banking details in order to be “paid” by the brand.

There are usual phishing scams where cybercriminals send a suspicious link on your Instagram DM or email. Users are tricked to enter their username and password on a fake login page, where the cybercriminals gain access to personal information like passwords, cybercriminals can change passwords and even log out the users of their accounts.

The report stated that the scammers pretend to be in distressful condition and ask for money from friends and followers of the person whose account has been hacked.

The friends/followers fall into the trap and end up sending money.

In situations like this, it is important to check with your friends on separate apps or call them up directly to know if they requested the money.