Don’t Fall for This Instagram Verification Scam
Instagram verification is pretty damn strict . There are a number of requirements you need to meet to get the blue badge, so if Instagram contacts you and tells you you’re eligible for verification, you’ll probably take that chance. Well, don’t, it’s a scam.
It seems there are bad actors among us praying for people’s willingness to get verified on Instagram. According to BleepingComputer , threat analysts at Vade have discovered a scheme to trick people into thinking they are eligible for the blue Instagram badge. The scam started on July 22nd and they were busy sending fake messages. In particular, on July 8 and August 9, scammers sent messages to more than a thousand accounts.
The campaign starts like this: you get an email purporting to be from “ig-badges” telling you that Instagram has decided that your particular account is worthy of a blue badge. All you have to do is click on the link in the email, fill out the form, and verification will be within your reach. To add to the urgency of the situation, the email states that you must respond within 48 hours or the form will be deleted.
If you click on the link in the email, you’ll be taken to a form that does its best to look like a legitimate checkout site, complete with logos for all the different Meta apps. However, I must point out that they refer to the company as “Facebook”, which really undermines the credibility. Guys, little mistakes like this really mess up your circuit. You have to pay more attention to details if you want to be taken seriously as a scammer.
Either way, the form asks for your Instagram username, real name, email address, and phone number before finally asking for your password. This last request should “verify” that you belong to the account in question. Of course, Jan.
Once your information has been verified, you will be notified that you will be contacted within 48 hours to verify the blue badge of your account. Of course you won’t. Instead, the good folks at ig-badges now have your account login details (and you worked so hard on that strong password too). If you have two-factor authentication enabled , your password won’t be enough for hackers to break into your account. But, in any case, you should never interact with scammers, especially when transferring personal information.
As a reminder, Instagram will never contact you directly to verify your account. The only way to get a blue badge on a pen is to apply yourself and meet the relatively strict requirements . Simply proving that you are the owner of the account is sufficient, and that no other account representing you will also apply for verification. It’s also easy to make sure your profile is complete, with a profile picture, bio, and public to everyone. The difficulty lies in proving that you deserve this badge. Instagram needs your account to be “visible” which means it’s well known and in high demand. It’s good if you appear in multiple news sources, but bad if you pay for these promotions. Essentially what you want is the following, with no guarantees anyway.
All of this is to say that, in reality, Instagram does not select your account for verification out of the blue. If you receive one of these emails, delete it immediately and try not to imagine how much better life would be if there was a little blue checkmark next to your name.