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How Instagram accounts get hacked: 6 tactics hackers use

Instagram Hacker is able to hack Instagram accounts despite the default security features, such as 2-factor authentication.

Social engineering is the most common answer to that question. 

A social engineer manipulates and deceives Instagram users into revealing confidential information by manipulating and deceiving them.

1. Offers of deceptive verified badges

The blue badges on Instagram profiles that indicate they were authenticated by the social network are valuable, but they are also used by hackers to break into accounts. 

The hackers send you an email or private message offering a chance to add a verified badge, which links to a deceptive website that collects your login details. In order to gain enough time to break into your account, they may require you to not change your profile data, such as username or password, until it has taken effect. 

2. Messages claiming infringement of copyright

In order to share original content on Instagram, you must not violate copyright infringement laws. However, if you do, Instagram will correct you. 

Consequently, cybercriminals have impersonated Instagram reps and claimed to address copyright violations. In these cases, a hacker sends a link to your email or through a private message on Instagram and asks you to log in to fix the issue. This is an example of a message that was used to hack

It leads to a fake page that, although it mimics Instagram’s login page, actually collects your username and password. There is only one difference between the real and fake pages: the URL. 

3. Fraudulent giveaways and brand sponsorships

It works like a false verified badge attack, but the hacker impersonates a big brand, exciting start-up, or similar renowned company offering a big giveaway to specific social media influencers. 

Scammers even have legitimate-looking accounts with thousands of followers, which includes at least one spoofed link leading to a fake Instagram login designed to extract the username and password. 

The more complex form of fraudulent giveaways and sponsorships occurs when hackers have gathered your information but still need a few more details to break into it. Hackers may ask you for personal information, like your date of birth, mother’s maiden name, and other answers to common security questions, instead of sending you a link to a fake login page. 

4. Illegitimate suspicious activity alerts

In social engineering attacks, hackers use every piece of information they can. For example, they create suspicious activity notifications that look like legitimate Instagram notifications, but contain malicious links. 

5. Reverse proxy attacks

The social engineering hacking techniques we’ve covered so far require hackers to manually create fake websites and apps. Instead of creating a spoof website or app, reverse proxy attacks allow hackers to automate credentials theft. 

A reverse proxy attack is a type of man-in-the-middle attack – hackers service direct victims to a domain that sits in between the user and the legitimate website. A malicious domain will have the same URL and look as a legitimate domain.

A hacker could send you a convincing email directing you to Instagram’s login page in the Instagram context. You don’t realize that your data – including 2FA – is being intercepted in real time when you log into Instagram through a proxy server. 

6. Counterfeit social media tools

A large following on social media can take a lot of time to manage. There are many tools that can simplify the process, but you should be sure each platform comes from a legitimate developer. 

Similarly to malicious web extensions, hackers can create counterfeit tools that pretend to improve functionality. 

Most of these tools look and feel legitimate, but don’t offer much functionality or practical value. The scheme isn’t as common because it requires lots of resources, but cybercriminals still use it to target larger, more valuable targets. Most of these tools look and feel legitimate, but don’t offer much functionality or practical value. The scheme isn’t as common because it requires lots of resources, but cybercriminals still use it to target larger, more valuable targets. 

The fake tool can be used to set up man-in-the-middle attacks, intercept all data, and extract login details, among other things, when this type of attack is successful.

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