Fake sellers. Competitions. Crypto cons. There are plenty of grifts on the platform, but you don’t have to get sucked in.
Since Mark Zuckerberg snapped up Instagram for a mere $1 billion in April 2012, the app has grown into a social media juggernaut and one of Meta’s biggest assets. More than a billion people use Instagram every month, with influencers relying on it as a key source of their income.
Any online congregation of this size is naturally a target for hackers and scammers looking to take advantage of people and make a quick buck. As a result, Instagram is a frequent objective for scammers trying to take over your account and get you to send them money, as well as for shilling cryptocurrency scams.
“Instagram scams and account takeovers are a big problem,” says Jessica Barker, the co-CEO of cybersecurity company Cygenta, who says she has seen a recent uptick in reports of Instagram scammers. “Scams take place over all social media platforms, but Instagram’s popularity, open nature, and sense of personal connection make it an ideal platform for scammers to exploit.”
Still, it is possible to avoid the vast majority of Instagram scams with a little knowledge of what to be cautious of and some quick changes to your account settings.
Scammers move quickly. Whenever there’s a big event such as Russia’s war in Ukraine, the outbreak of Covid-19, or rapidly fluctuating cryptocurrency prices, the scams appear soon afterward. Online scams are constantly evolving, which means there are plenty of ways scammers may try to extort you. One startup is now even selling insurance against Instagram hacks.
Seguir leyendo: Wired
Imagen de la entrada de Sammy-Sander en Pixabay
