Instagram is gaining rapid popularity as the days are passing by. Every day millions of users use to post their pictures, videos, and other content to stay connected with their Instagram followers and loved ones.
On average, it is estimated that over 1 billion people use Instagram monthly. But whenever you see a platform getting popular, scammers attack it like bees attaching sugar. They find a way to con people and make quick bucks.
Nowadays, this scamming has become so rampant that they are not limited to extorting money only, but they go after your identity, personal information.
Instagram has become their next target to carry out their scams. Many have been scammed because they had no idea about these activities happening on their favorite platform.
Here is a roundup of the popular scams on Instagram for your information to be careful about them.
1. Dummy Followers
On Instagram, influential marketing is a new trend. An increasing number of businesses and brands are employing their services to promote their products and services. The influencers have a massive number of followers, and with them, they encourage the development and spread of their message. So, the scammers may entice you to buy Instagram followers to strengthen your profile for others to see you have many followers.
Since these followers are paid, and for numbers only, they will severely damage your account because their engagement is not authentic, and it is one aspect to check the authenticity of a profile. Most of them will not be interested in what you post to be any activity from their side on your posts.
They may even not understand the language, purpose of your post, or the followers may have deactivated their account. As Instagram has tightened the grip on the fake followers, buying these followers from third-party vendors, you have all the chances to have a strike on your account, or the platform may even permanently delete your account.
Pro-tip: Never give a chance to these scammers to put your precious Instagram account into danger. Getting popularity on Instagram is a time-consuming task and needs some effort. If you want to thrive on this platform, you will have to avoid these scams on Instagram.
2. Instagram Scammer Pictures
Instagram Scammer Pictures is another kind of scam. On social media, it is not difficult to make an account with a fake profile. Many scammers can pose being you and con other people on your name. They may try to capitalize on your popularity or may indulge in fake relationships with other Instagrammers. In case you suspect someone has contacted you with a fake profile picture, you can verify it by reverse image search. Most of the time, they use celebrity pictures to be on the safe side.
If you get a suspicious email, you can also verify it from google. You will find if others have complained about this email as well.
Pro-tip: While getting cute messages from someone might seem very attractive, but with all the scams going on, be extra vigilant.
3. Instagram Financial Scams
One of the top-rated Instagram scams going rounds on the social media platform is the financial scam to extort money. Scammers may entice you to invest money in the name of registration fees or security deposits. Many have posted jobs in this way as well, they provide you home-based jobs, but for that, they ask you to pay some money upfront.
Another one is asking people to invest a small amount of money and get it doubled or tripled in a few hours or days. But as they receive your money, they are going to vanish from the face of this Earth.
Pro-tip: Don’t ever send money to these job posters if they have the slightest hint of being fake. On the other hand, if someone seems to be accurate, they will be mostly fraudulent at the end of the day.
Fake Instagram DMs
Next on our list is the Fake Instagram DMs. Many Instagram services in the market can help scammers generate Instagram DMs, which is another way of scamming innocent people. Many times, the purpose is to make the chat look real and prank friends.
Pro-tip: the best practice is to ignore these chats that you think are fake and do not concern you in any way. If you engage with them, they get a chance to apply their tricks on you.
4. Instagram Email Scams
One of the scammers’ severe scamming techniques is the use of email to get sensitive information of the intended victim. These email attacks are called phishing attacks that are widespread on almost all social media platforms.
The scammers will try to convince you that your Instagram account is at risk. In the email, you will find a link that will take you to an Instagram account that will look real. But as you enter your login details in the link provided by them, they get all your information through their system.
The Instagram phishing scams may occur in the following versions:
- A warning email that your account needs protection
- An email that you have violated the Terms of service or community guidelines or copyright
- A fake prompt to reset your password
- a warning that there is an unauthorized breach on your Instagram account
Pro-tip: if you receive any suspicious email about your account, always log in from your Instagram account directly in the browser or the application. And if you don’t understand something, try to connect with the Instagram team and tell them what issue or email you are getting.
5. Instagram Ad Scams
Last but not least are the Ad scams. This scam is too basic people may make faulty fraudulent ads and try to con you into buying low-quality products.
These products look different in the picture while they are cheap and a waste of money in reality. They may advertise branded stuff, but you end up getting counterfeit products.
These scams are happening on all social media platforms, not just Instagram. People have also made fake websites to sell counterfeit products.
Pro-tip: Never buy from the websites or profile which you are not sure of, or they seem to be genuine to be true.
