If you’ve received a message in your Instagram inbox from a major corporation informing you that you’ve infringed their copyright, watch out. It’s a fairly convincing phishing scam that is trying to hack your account.
Like many phishing attempts, the message seems legitimate at a glance. The one I received was from The North Face Chile informing me that I had posted a copyrighted photograph to my Instagram account. The message explains that you need to “provide feedback” or your account will be permanently closed by Instagram in 24 hours. There’s then a link to instagramhelpnotice.com which of course, immediately asks you for your account details. Entering those details gives hackers access to your account.
The usual flags are present: the grammar, though better than most phishing scams, is slightly off. “As an Instagram team, we pay close attention to Community rules,” the website says, a strange point to make in a slightly odd fashion.
Either the Instagram for The North Face Chile has been hacked or someone has set up the username and bought 152,000 followers to make it seem legitimate. Either way, it’s now being used by hackers to try and prise information out of more users.
If you’ve encountered this scam or anything similar, let us know in the comments below.
