Your Instagram account can be hacked: Don't fall for this fake copyright infringement notification in DM

Social media networks are a great place to interact with your friends, family and even your followers (if you have a huge following). However, this also means that you need to be cautious about certain things like not responding to phishing emails or falling for fake copyright infringement notifications.

The latest to fall in this trap is actress Esha Deol who shared on Twitter that her Instagram account got hacked. While she hasn't revealed what exactly happened but looking at the screenshots shared by her, it seems like she responded to the phishing scam message in her Instagram DM. The copyright violation notification appears to have tricked her in believing that it is genuine.

Phishing scam generally is about someone trying to access your Instagram account by sending you a suspicious message or link that asks for your personal information.

The copyright violation notification in DM is the latest way of phishing scam these days on Instagram. A few years back, the hackers tried to access different accounts by sending tempting phishing messages that promised the blue "Verified" account badge on Instagram.

This morning my official Instagram account imeshadeol got Hacked , so please don't reply to any msg if you received any from my Instagram account. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Insta Id : imeshadeol pic.twitter.com/AbLg79WxIY

Esha Deol (@Esha_Deol) January 10, 2021

What is this fake copyright infringement notification on Instagram?

Many Instagram users (particularly influencers) with a big fan following have reported receiving a DM from a fake account by the name "Instagram Support". Interestingly, many users have pointed out that the DM they received was from an account with the blue verified badge. This notification message's content is straightforward and targeted to get users worried about the Instagram account's closure.

The screenshot shared by Esha Deol shows the notification message reading, "Hi Dear User, .... A copyright violation has been detected in a post on your account. If you think copyright infringement is wrong, you should provide feedback. Otherwise, your account will be closed within 24 hours. You can give feedback from the link below. Thank you for your understanding."

The DM also includes a link that should not be opened by users. Hackers have created the link to extract the password once you feed in your details.

Explaining how the entire phishing scam works, if you click on the link, you end up on a phishing page which will be designed in a way that it looks genuine and it offers a link to "Appeal."

On tapping on the "Appeal" link, you get a page where you need to feed your Instagram credentials. Interestingly, in some phishing scams, hackers also send an additional layer of login for email address attached to Instagram. This is to ensure that a user cannot get back the control of the Instagram page via the linked email address.

How to protect your Instagram account

One of the best things you can do to protect your Instagram account is to turn on two-factor authentication for additional account security. If you set up two-factor authentication, you'll have to enter a unique login code or confirm your login attempt each time while trying to access Instagram from a new device. The second most important thing is don't click on suspicious links that can lead to a phishing scam.