Instagram Affected by Phishing, Here's How to Deal With It

Nafa Lightyani

Instagram Affected by Phishing Here's How to Deal With It
Instagram Affected by Phishing Here's How to Deal With It

Rancakmedia.com – Many netizens are panicking because Instagram hit by phishing, now you no longer need to worry, below we will give you how to deal with what you need to do if your Instagram is phished.

Nowadays, many people are scared and confused because their Instagram account was suddenly deactivated even though they did nothing wrong.

This can be suspected because your IG account has been hacked or experienced what is known as Phishing. Maybe you won't realize that you've been phished because the perpetrators do it so easily that it's impossible to detect.

What is Phishing

There are ways to prevent it from becoming phishing as well as recommendations that we will provide so you can avoid it quickly. Peek at the comments that follow for more information.

About Instagram

Instagram is a social media application that allows users to share photos and videos publicly or privately.

Instagram users can upload photos or videos to their profiles and share them with their followers or with people they choose.

Apart from that, users can also view and like other people's posts, as well as leave comments under these posts.

Instagram also has a Stories feature that allows users to upload photos or videos that will disappear within 24 hours after uploading.

Instagram was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and has since become one of the most popular social media applications in the world.

What is Phishing

As a result, we need to be vigilant as phishing attacks increasingly target high-profile accounts.

Phishing is a hacking activity that involves taking the victim's personal data and then using their account to spam continuously for their own interests.

When someone tries to gain access to your account, they will send you an email or text message, for example.

The letter usually consists of a URL where your data will be retrieved. If you do not check in using the following link, your account will be permanently disabled, according to the warning.

This is what is used as a weapon to force us to do what they want. This is precisely our responsibility not to pay attention to their actions.

Additionally, the emails you receive may appear legitimate and well-crafted, making it difficult to discern the sender's intent.

Characteristics of an Instagram Account Affected by Phishing

Before knowing how to deal with a phishing Instagram account, you need to know first what the characteristics of an Instagram account that has been phishing are like, as follows:

Characteristics of an Instagram Account Affected by Phishing

1. Instagram suddenly logs out and cannot be accessed

If your Instagram account suddenly logs out or logs out by itself, you need to check it. Because if your Instagram account is synchronized with your smartphone, you will never be able to log out on your own unless you delete the data and cache on the application yourself.

2. Status, Profile Photo, Bio and Link Changed

If you have tried logging in several times but still can't get into your account, one of the things you have to do is borrow your friend's Instagram account and look at their account. Instagram you.

If a lot of things have changed on your Instagram profile, such as your profile photo, bio and link, you can be sure that your Instagram has been hacked.

3. Someone Posted a New Story

You also need to check your photo album on Instagram, if something is missing, or even added, such as photos, videos or even stories that you don't recognize, then you can be sure that your Instagram account has been hacked by an irresponsible person.

Reasons Why Instagram Accounts Are Temporarily Locked Due to Phishing

What makes us vulnerable to hacking is not because we get messages in email account or incoming SMS contacts, but because we use the link they provide and then fill in our personal information.

In most cases, the links lead to fake websites designed to trick us into entering our Instagram login credentials.

After that they will get the data and maybe they won't have to wait long for our IG to be penetrated.

Apart from this plan, it may also be because we carelessly enter our personal data in random places. This is risky because we never know what our personal data will be used for.

If Instagram detects spam on your account, your account will be temporarily blocked until the hacker deletes the spam.

Below we have summarized a list of causes that can cause your Instagram account to be phished, as follows:

1. Too Many User Follows in a Day

Most Instagram users want to quickly get lots of followers on Instagram by following lots of Instagram users, such as more than 500 to 1.000 people a day.

Reasons Why Instagram Accounts Are Temporarily Locked Due to Phishing

Even though sometimes this method may work, Instagram will most likely raise suspicions because the activity is classified as unnatural because it follows hundreds or even thousands of people a day.

2. Frequency of Like Posts or Requesting Likes from Other Users

Through your Instagram account, you can take part in competitions or endorse products from all brands that ask to collaborate.

Sometimes, if you want to increase likes on an Instagram post, you will ask many IG users for likes in a day.

Apart from that, sometimes you will also immediately like many posts to help users or friends who are taking part in competitions or endorsements.

Of course, this will be considered spam by Instagram, causing several Instagram user accounts to be temporarily locked.

3. Frequently log in to other devices in a short time

If you are a reviewer or have multiple devices, sometimes switching accounts between cellphones in a short time, this is what makes Instagram suspicious because your account looks like it has been hacked by another party.

Moreover, if you immediately log in to one Instagram account on several cellphones at close intervals, it will cause Instagram to temporarily lock the account.

4. Login to Instagram with a Third Party

Sometimes Instagram users log in to third parties because they want to unfollow users they have followed.

Using a third-party application can shorten your time in unfollowing an account because you can unfollow several accounts at the same time.

5. Account Hacked

When an account is suddenly logged in from a device, country or region that is far away and not as usual, Instagram will detect whether the account has possibly been taken by someone else or not.

Instagram also locks accounts as a form of prevention so that there are no more serious problems, which is why you should increase Instagram security by using the Two-Authentication feature so that it requires an authenticator code when logging in.

How to Overcome an Instagram Account Temporarily Locked Due to Phishing

How to Overcome an Instagram Account Temporarily Locked Due to Phishing

If you feel that your Instagram account has been phished, but you can still log in to the account, you must quickly change your password and take security measures by logging out from an unknown device.

However, if you have been phished and cannot enter your Instagram account, you can use the method we provide below:

  1. The first way you can use is to appeal that you are innocent, the first thing is to log in to your Instagram
  2. Later a message will appear regarding your account being blocked
  3. Then click on the complete text in blue
  4. After that press contact us
  5. Then a question will appear from Instagram, answer it according to the situation then click send
  6. After that, check your email because Instagram has sent a message
  7. You will be asked to write the code on blank paper, then you will be asked to take a photo with the paper containing the code you have written and then send it
  8. Make sure the photo you send is clear, not blurry and most importantly the code you write is clear
  9. Next, you need to wait for verification from Instagram for 2 to 3 days regarding whether your account can be reactivated or not
  10. If the request can be activated, then you will receive a message that your account has been reactivated and you can access it
  11. You also need to ensure that the message sent is official or not
  12. After that, don't forget to activate two-step authentication so that your access is more secure

If you receive a questionable email, you can report it to phish@instagram.com

FAQ

Below we have summarized some frequently asked questions about Instagram, as follows:

1. How long will an Instagram account be temporarily locked?

A locked Instagram account is only valid for 3 days, while waiting for those 3 days, make sure you don't follow, like or spam comments to other Instagram users.

2. How to Contact Instagram?

You can contact Instagram by clicking on your profile photo, tapping the top right then selecting settings, then press help and select report a problem, then follow the instructions provided.

Conclusion

Instagram is a social media application that allows users to share photos and videos publicly or privately.

Phishing is a hacking activity that involves taking the victim's personal data and then using their account to spam continuously for their own interests.

That's the article about Instagram being exposed to phishing, here's how to deal with it. Hopefully the article above can help you to restore your Instagram which was affected by phishing, hopefully it helps and good luck trying.

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Nafa Lightyani

I am a content writer for SEO, Technology, Finance, Travel, Cooking Recipes and others. I hope this can be useful for all my friends.