Instagram hoax steals your logins by faking a ‘copyright violation’ – delete this message NOW
A HOAX message is trying to scam Instagram users out of their account details.
The DM pretends to come from Instagram’s help centre and threatens to close your account if you don't hand over your information.
This is according to customer choice firm , which reportedly received a copy of the phishing direct message.
If you received this message you are being advised to ignore it and delete it.
Cybercriminals are sending the message out to private inboxes and telling people that they've infringed copyright law with one of their posts.
This isn't true but the message is actually pretty believable and you'd be forgiven for falling for it.
It reads: "Hello Dear Instagram User! A copyright violation has been detected in a post on your account.
"If you think copyright infringement is wrong you should provide feedback.
"Otherwise your account will be closed within 24 hours. You can give feedback from the link below."
It then directs users to a link that you should definitely not click and asked for personal information.
The tone of the message and the fact it comes from a professional looking account has made some people fall for the scam already.
Any message like this should ring alarm bells though because if Instagram has a problem with your account it will contact you via email not direct message.
Which? told us: "The link tries to trick you into handing over your Instagram account login details and personal details."
Although there has been no reports of hacked Instagram's so far, the fake message does look a lot like a phishing scam.
Scammers often use these to steal details and then try and break into other accounts of their victims such as their online banking.
Instagram – the key facts
Here's what you need to know...
- Instagram is a social network for sharing photos and videos
- It was created back in October 2010 as an iPhone-exclusive app
- A separate version for Android devices was released 18 months later
- The app rose to popularity thanks to its filters system, which lets you quickly edit your photos with cool effects
- When it first launched, users could only post square 1:1 ratio images, but that rule was changed in 2015
- In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram for $1billion in cash and stock
- In 2018, some analysts believe the app is worth closer to $100billion
- In October 2015, Instagram confirmed that more than 40billion photos had been uploaded to the app
- And in 2018, Instagram revealed that more than a billion people were using the app every month
Most read in Phones & Gadgets
In other news, scammers are using Google Alerts to send out links to malware.
Video chat app Zoom will offer free and paying users end-to-end encryption.
And, Windows 10 users are being told to update their PC to escape an 'Eternal Darkness' flaw.
Have you had any problems with Instagram lately? Let us know in the comments...
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