Instagram users receive fake emails that include undertakings to obtain a verification certificate for their account by filling out a fake form, and the goal is to hack these accounts and obtain their personal data.
More than 2,000 e-mails are sent daily, as the specialized website Nomirama revealed today, Thursday, a large e-mail phishing campaign led by hackers targeting French Instagram users, with the aim of making victims believe that they will be able to obtain a properly certified account. Formal and safe.
In a report, the French BFMTV television website said that Fada, a cybersecurity company, denounced this operation, which began since the end of last July, and aims to seize personal data (such as login ID, number credit card, password, etc.) to users of the social network who naively answer the form submitted by hackers.
The report pointed out that the emails take advantage of the fact that many Instagram users want to obtain their account certificate, which is a symbol of success represented in the appearance of a blue dot to the right of the username, and therefore fraudulent emails indicate to the recipient that their account has been checked. By “Instagram”, and that he is now eligible for this famous certificate.
To lure users and urge them to do so, the message invites them to click on the link and provide their data, then fill out a form that requires them to enter their name, email address, phone number and password, and once the process is completed, a message will appear telling him that his profile has now been verified, and that “Instagram” He will call him within 48 hours, which never happens.
In the meantime, the recovered data can be resold, or even reused to access other websites.
According to BFMTV, it is relatively easy for users to be deceived, as hackers perfectly imitate the graphic identity of Instagram, making the gullible believe that it is indeed an email sent from the Meta-owned platform.
To avoid falling into the trap, it is important to know that the social network never sends an email with the subject of a request for a certificate from the user, even if the account in question has several thousand subscribers and followers.
Moreover, it is very difficult to obtain the precious blue badge, unless the user is a well-known personality, or a company with a large number of subscribers, as the French report explains.