CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you have an Instagram account, consider this your warning.
Cybercriminals are posing as the social media platform in order to steal your password and gain access to your email account.
According to the Better Business Bureau, the scam comes in the form of an email claiming to be from Instagram warning that your account will be deleted in 24 hours for violating Instagram’s copyright laws. Their goal is to get people to think it's a mistake and click the link inside the email to "verify" their account with a username and password.
That's a major red flag.
The scam doesn’t end there though. According to the Better Business Bureau, in order to complete the “verification” process, you must also provide your email address and password.
After all of your information is entered, you’ll be redirected to the real Instagram website making the entire “verification” process appear legitimate when the truth is, you were just tricked into giving a cybercriminal total access to your Instagram account and your email.
Experts say criminals have gotten smarter, creating web pages and pop-ups that look so similar to authentic pages that you don't notice something is off until it's too late. The key to not falling for the fraud is knowing how to spot the scam.
Here are 3 steps to spot phishing scams according to the Better Business Bureau:
1. Look at links
Suspicious links are telltale signs of an email scam. Hover your mouse over the link in question to see where it leads. If it’s an unknown web address, do not click it. Check that the “from” address is actually from the business it’s claiming to be, too.
WCNC Charlotte is always asking "where's the money?" If you need help, reach out to the Defenders team by emailing money@wcnc.com.
2. Do your research then react
Log into the account in question. In this case, Instagram, to see if you've received any official alerts. Call the company to confirm if an issue even exists. Educate yourself about the manner in which the company would communicate if correspondence is necessary, whether that's by text, email, phone calls, etc.
3. Don’t panic
Criminals create a false sense of urgency in order to cloud your better judgment. Remember, legitimate businesses won’t require unrealistic timelines for action. Take a breath and think before you hand over personal information of any kind.
Contact Carolyn Bruck at cbruck@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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