Have you seen your contacts complain about fake accounts created with your image in recent days, or even come across these fake profiles of acquaintances on Instagram with the promise of selling adult content on OnlyFans or Privacy? Know that this is a new scam in progress on the social network belonging to Meta.
Detective TC has received reports and has seen newsroom contacts complain about this type of occurrence. Therefore, the column decided to investigate the patterns of cybercriminals, how to report the account and stay protected on the platform.
understand the scam
This scam consists of a “wave” of fake accounts created by cybercriminals, who use the name and image of a real person to attract users, with the promise of selling adult content, to take money from victims.
There are some patterns in coup practice. The people affected are primarily women and have a public profile on Instagram. The fakes put a shortened malicious link in the bio with references to the OnlyFans and Privacy platforms, in addition to having posts in Stories to simulate that the real person created a second account to publicize the new way of working.
real case
One of the cases detected by TudoCelular was that of a user who learned about the case through third-party contacts and alerted her followers in Stories. Two people even called her on her real account to ask for the link to the alleged Privacy account.
Moments later, more individuals began to send prints of this fake account and asked if it really was she who had created the profile to sell adult content on Instagram.
With the denial, also came the discovery that the cybercriminal had blocked the real account, in order to avoid the spontaneous discovery of the real user regarding the use of her image improperly.
The victim claims that one of the contacts he received was from a person who even opened the link in the bio. However, it pointed straight to a Wix site. In the Stories of this second profile, photos that pretend to be the person talking about new content to be published are published, with the aim of conveying truth to the victims.
How to report fake accounts?
The main way to put an end to fake accounts is to file a complaint against them, through the social network itself. To carry out the process, you must enter the fake profile, tap the three dots icon in the upper right corner and go to the “Report” option.
Afterwards, go to “The content is inappropriate” and then to “Report account”. Next, select the alternative “Is pretending to be someone else”. Signal if that account wants to impersonate you, an acquaintance, a company or a public figure.
If the real profile is verified, it is possible to indicate which legitimate account this fake wants to impersonate. It is important to note that the information of the person making the complaint is not shared with the reported profile.
User protection tools
Instagram still has some tools available directly on the platform to protect users from unwanted contacts. Among them is blocking, which prevents cybercriminals from sending messages or finding your profile. The blocked person will not be notified of the action.
There are still some alternatives to this action, by controlling who can interact with you and how this interaction takes place. This management can be done through the menu Settings > Privacy.
In the list of functions, “Restrict” appears. This limits an account so that the comments made by it on your publications are only visible to the account itself. Also, direct messages from that person automatically go to a message request box, without the sender knowing they are restricted.
Another feature is “Limits”, which automatically hides comments and direct message requests from people who don’t follow you or have recently joined you.
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official answer
Detective TudoCelular contacted Instagram’s advisory to ask for a position on what has been happening in recent days, as well as the removal of the fake profile exemplified in this text.
Earlier this Thursday afternoon (9), the representation of the social network sent a note to this space, in which it reinforces the work against what it classifies in its policies – within the Community Standards – as “inauthentic behavior”.
He also reinforced that users should report suspicious activities and that, when irregularities are detected, these accounts should be suspended and removed. See the statement in full:
“For Meta, it’s very important that interactions on Instagram and Facebook are genuine, so we work hard to keep the community free from inauthentic behavior. We dedicate significant resources to combating profiles that promote this type of behavior on our platforms and, when detected, consider all applicable options, including suspension and removal of accounts. We also encourage people to report any suspicious Instagram accounts or activities through our reporting tools.”
In addition to the placement sent to the column, Instagram deleted the user’s fake account this Thursday (9).
So, did you ever become a victim of this type of scam, either with an account created by you or because you believed in a fake profile on Instagram? Report the case to us in the space below.