{"id":193520,"date":"2022-06-10T11:22:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T09:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=193520"},"modified":"2025-07-01T20:40:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T03:40:01","slug":"hacked-instagram-account-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/hacked-instagram-account-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"You need to look out for these hacked Instagram account scams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hacked accounts are common across Facebook and Instagram with unwitting victims seeing their social media profiles becoming the base of operations for all sorts of scam operations. Unfortunately, after having recently reported on a <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook-messenger.en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-messenger-massive-phishing-scam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">phishing scam targeting Facebook Messeng<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/facebook-messenger.en.softonic.com\/articles\/facebook-messenger-massive-phishing-scam\">er<\/a>, we are now bringing you updates on<strong> a variety of scams coming from hacked Instagram accounts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Instagram\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_app-logo-xl,f_auto\/p\/f96df87d-926f-4954-bf58-f377a573a630\/3327919682\/instagram-apps.61393.13510798887167234.60d66302-6f61-42ba-a10d-da6c9be84e6e.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Instagram<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/instagram.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Now<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--0\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"0\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\"><\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/instagram.en.softonic.com\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cybersecurity researchers at Avast have released <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.avast.com\/instagram-scams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">information<\/a> on the many different types of scams they are seeing coming from hacked Instagram accounts and some of them are quite shocking. We\u2019ll go through them now as well as having a quick look at how to avoid having your account hacked and what to do if the worst does happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve all heard of ransomware, which sees scammers hijacking all your files and data and then demanding a ransom if you want it back. Something similar is happening on Instagram these days, with<strong> hackers taking control of users\u2019 accounts and then demanding payment in cryptocurrency to give it back.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another,<strong> particularly chilling variation<\/strong> of this is when the <strong>scammers will force victims to record videos saying how much money they have made investing in a scam program before they will give them back control of their account. <\/strong>These videos then end up being spammed across all their friends and even on their Instagram Stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sticking with crypto and getting rich quick, <strong>another hacked Instagram account scam relates to fake cryptocurrency investing<\/strong>. The scammers claim to be Bitcoin gurus who can help you get rich. They <strong>offer to help you invest your money wisely and then will either disappear with the cryptocurrency<\/strong> you give them to invest on your behalf <strong>or will charge a hefty fee for the fake service<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Avast reports that <strong>the most prominent way for scammers to hack Instagram accounts is through phishing attacks<\/strong>. These are where you click on a dodgy link which takes you to a malicious website that allows them to steal your details. To avoid this happening, <strong>you must always be wary of any messages you receive from strangers<\/strong> and assess all links you receive against our <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-detect-fakescam-emails-and-avoid-phishing-attacks-hi-res-version\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anti-phishing guidelines<\/a> criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you do get hacked, however, you will have to go through the Instagram recovery <a href=\"https:\/\/help.instagram.com\/374546259294234\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">process<\/a> and then change your password. You should then block the account that sent you the dodgy message in the first place and report them to Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just remember, be wary of everything that is even just a little bit suspicious because the internet is full of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/4-online-scams-youd-never-think-to-check\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">scams that you would never think to check<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hacked accounts are common across Facebook and Instagram with unwitting victims seeing their social media profiles becoming the base of operations for all sorts of scam operations. Unfortunately, after having recently reported on a phishing scam targeting Facebook Messenger, we are now bringing you updates on a variety of scams coming from hacked Instagram accounts. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/hacked-instagram-account-scams\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;You need to look out for these hacked Instagram account scams&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9073,"featured_media":193525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":1},"categories":[1015],"tags":[2354],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-193520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-app-subdomain-redirectioninstagram"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9073"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323736,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193520\/revisions\/323736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193520"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=193520"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=193520"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=193520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}