Beware the Instagram hackers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2022 (1409 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The stories are everywhere; tales of how people are duped into succumbing to scams or fraud, whether through online romance sites, Instagram, Facebook, multiple emails in your inbox or those annoying phone calls for those who still have land line phones (and many who don’t).

For the most part people are savvy to the fraudsters and either hang up or block them. But the hackers seem to be getting more sophisticated, and they are so good at pulling at people’s heartstrings or circumventing their better judgment. It appears our best strategy may just be to trust no one, and thus take no risk. We can no longer have a land-line phone without screening every call. No one under the age of 50 will ever answer it anyway.

Lately there have been numerous reports of Instagram accounts being hacked and taken over by who knows who and then being used to solicit the account’s followers to purchase bitcoin or other fabulous things for sale. The hackers will send requests through Messenger accounts and offer a convincing story that the account holder is making the request. Most people will double-check through other means but not always — and that’s how they get you. A recent CBC news story told of an account whose hackers even used the account-holder’s personal photos to promote adult content.

When your account is hacked, you can try to change the password or get multiple access codes to re-enter, but these methods often do not work, and it is truly impossible to contact Meta to have it corrected. You can email them every day to no avail. When they respond they will tell you they are too busy to help you at this time and instruct you try again later. Meanwhile, your name and your account are being used as a fraudulent tool to fool people into believing you are soliciting things that don’t fit the profile of your account or promoting that doesn’t represent your beliefs or values.

Facebook can buy full-page ads in the media portraying how great they are at security issues, but I must call them on that based on my experiences. Is it fraud to advertise fraud?

Finally, I would like to ask all followers of my old Instagram account to not respond to any requests to screenshot something and send it back, or anything for that matter. Unfollow the account. Maybe one day they will respond and delete or reset the account as requested. You can report incidents to police, to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre or follow the suggestions in the linked stories below:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/instagram-photos-stolen-scam-1.6464240

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/thunder-bay-musician-hacked-out-of-instagram-account-1.6344082

https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm