Posted on October 4, 2018 at 6:01 PM

Hackers Now Holding Influencers’ Instagram Accounts for Ransom

Just some days ago, Facebook recorded what perhaps is its worst hacking ever as 90 million of its users had their accounts compromised. As if that was not enough, Instagram accounts belonging to key figures have lately been the focus of hackers. Many notable Instagram users have either had their accounts held for ransom or outrightly deleted.

Instagram accounts of many influencers on the platform have continued to suffer attacks of various magnitudes. It particularly singled out the case of Kevin Kreider domiciled in Los Angeles.

The popular fitness and health Instagram’s account of more than 100,000 followers fell victim of a phishing scam. It only took the intervention of Instagram handlers to restore the account.

Another notable victim of this Instagram hacking spree is Cassie Gallegos. He is renowned for publishing lifestyle contents. According to him, he had more than 57,000 followers before hackers took over the control of his account from him.

Later on, Gallegos claimed he got a mail based on Tutanota.com apparently from the scammers, to pay a ransom of $122 in Bitcoin to regain his account. Desirous of getting his account back, Gallegos claimed to have paid the said Ransom.

Unfortunately, even with the payment, the account was not restored to him. In fact, the hackers failed to communicate with him from that time on. Gallegos lamented that if they had accepted payments via PayPal or Venmo, he could have traced them. The hackers, of course, are aware of this and would not tow that line.

Hacking Majorly by Phishing

In many of the self-confessions made by victims, they all claimed to have received an email they supposed was sent to them by Instagram.

The email reportedly came with a short bit.ly URL which victims were asked to click in order to register for a particular deal. When they do so, they are further prompted to sign in into their IG accounts.

When the unsuspecting victims do, the hackers lay hold to their details and take control of their accounts. This is the usual phishing approach by which many IG users have been swindled.

Notably, this trend has been witnessed with the Instagram for times now. Just last year, many top celebs using Instagram had their accounts stolen and eventually sold by cybercriminals.

Talkwalker even reported that in August alone this year, not less than 5000 tweets from over 860 users claimed their Instagram got hacked. All of this took place in one day.

The Way Out

If you have an account on the Instagram and you have many followers, the chances are that you might be the next to be hacked. To forestall this, a couple of steps listed below can prove helpful

• Make your password very strong. Endeavor to mix cases and select characters. Above all, keep your strong password unique.
• Review your password from time to time.
• Avoid sharing your password with an untrusted fellow.
• Activate the two-factor authentication to ensure further protection.
• Refuse to click the auto-logged in the box.