Computer Security 'I made this for you' Instagram Scam

'I made this for you' Instagram Scam

A phishing tactic propagating through Instagram is using 'I made this for you' messages to bait users into divulging their account credentials. The scheme begins with the user receiving a message from one of their contacts that always has the same text - 'I made this for you' followed by a link. The message may come from people that you haven't kept in touch with for some time so many users click on the link to see what is going on. Doing so will lead them to a phishing website designed to mimic the official Instagram login page. The fake page asks the users to input their login credentials, scrapes them, and then sends the acquired data to the fraudsters. The compromised account can then be taken over and used to further spread the scam by disseminating the same 'I made this for you' message through the user's contact list. 

The gathered info can be used in various ways by the con artists according to their particular goals. They can continue amassing more breached Instagram account and sell them to third parties or change the link to a site potentially spreading malware threats. 

Users who receive the suspicious message and provided their account details on the phishing page should try to change their password as soon as possible, hopefully before the con artists have had the chance to access it. Even if you have simply opened the fake page without typing anything into it, you might still want to change your password for peace of mind.

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