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The Federal Trade Commission reports that social media scams reached record highs in the first half of 2020, with victims suffering nearly $117 million total losses. In 2016, only a little over 1,000 individuals reported losing money to social media scams. By 2020, that number grew to nearly 16,000. The FBI even issued a warning to Internet users to be even more vigilant about online scams during the pandemic. Sadly, many of the already unfortunate consequences of the pandemic made people even more vulnerable targets for scammers. Whether it’s having to work online, doing all our socializing online, and even attending school online, we’re spending much more time on the Internet than ever. It has almost entirely replaced our in-person interactions. Every minute spent online, and every new account opened, increases one’s chances of being a victim of a scam.
The pandemic also drove many of us to taking desperate measures to soothe loneliness and depression, from impulsively online dating to making spontaneous purchases. It’s been open season for scammers. Before you click on something that looks too good to be true, or engage in messages with someone new, be aware of these Instagram scams that are going around.
Paid promotion
Getting a new brand off the ground is nearly impossible without the use of social media, and you can use all the help you can get in gaining followers and getting some traction. So when an account DMs you, claiming to have several accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers and offering to promote your page for a mere…$25 or…$100, it sounds pretty good, right? It’s just like paying for advertising, which is a regular part of doing business, isn’t it? Just hold on a second. Often, these accounts with “hundreds of thousands of followers” have fake followers themselves, so while you think you’re paying to get your brand in front of thousands of engaged viewers, you’re actually paying for nothing. You’ll notice this if you go to one of the accounts and see the actual posts have little to no engagement, even though the page allegedly has 200K followers.
Paying for followers
Maybe you’re willing to skip the illusion of gaining followers a “natural way” by paying another “successful page” (see last slide) to promote your stuff, and you’d rather just skip to buying followers yourself. Your idea is innocent, as you know many people decide who to follow based on the pages that already appear to have many followers. You know you’ll create engaging, valuable content, and if people just give you a chance, they’ll be glad they followed you. So how much can it hurt to purchase 20,000 followers? Well, first off, it is against Instagram’s guidelines and could get your account suspended. But furthermore, many “companies” who offer to sell you followers are not real. They’ll show you accounts they’ve also “helped” as proof, but those also are not real. So you’ll hand over money and, poof, suddenly the helpful company will ghost you, and you will not gain followers.
Almost-free goods
Scammers keep tabs on what you’re interested in. If you have been looking at a lot of neon bikinis lately, they know it. So that’s when you might get a DM or shoutout from a company, inviting you to check out their page, which sells cute neon bikinis for almost nothing. Somehow, they’re practically giving these bikinis away. They’re only $8, and look just like the $200 bikini you were looking at. You wonder how they even make money, after shipping and handling. But you want the bikini, and so you hand over your credit card information on their website. In the mildest of these scams, you just paid $8 for a bikini that’s never coming. In the worst ones, you just input your credit card data on a platform hosted by advanced hackers, who now have your credit card data.
Medical cures
Never, ever pursue any sort of medical treatment or device that is not recommended to you by your physician. Sadly, in a time when people are very worried for their health, scammers are creating pages offering life-saving treatments and devices. They aren’t real. The studies and clinical trials they report never happened. They are just preying on your desire to find a miracle cure for a chronic condition that you or a loved one has suffered from for a while. They know it, because they’ve stalked you. Even if you read about a treatment in what seems like a legitimate source, always consult your doctor before buying/trying something, and only acquire the treatment through your doctor’s preapproved avenues.
Work-from-home dream jobs
These scams existed before the pandemic, but are on the rise now. Who doesn’t want to make 3K a week working from home? And just three hours of work a day? Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. You may see job listings pop up as promoted posts on Instagram. You might pursue them, and even speak to what feels like a real person. They may send you an application, with many standard questions, but then ask for information about your bank account “for payroll purposes.” It is not normal for a company to ask for this information this early in the application process. At legitimate jobs, this happens much later. A quick Internet search of this “angelic” company will likely reveal they are scammers.
Multilevel marketing schemes
Multilevel marketing companies – often known as schemes – have been on the rise during the pandemic. Though these companies have somehow escaped a final conviction of being scams, the Federal Trade Commission has reported that 99 percent of individuals who participate in these lose money. Apparently, that tiny one percent who makes money earns MLMs the label of “a real business,” but it really shouldn’t. With the pandemic causing so many people to lose their jobs and struggle to find new ones, MLMs have had even more success poaching desperate unemployed individuals. But always remember this: you should never have to pay your “employer” to make money. And your pay shouldn’t be based on extremely fragile and unpredictable factors.
Catfishing
Catfishing has become such a major scam that an entire business has cropped up around fighting the scam. Sites like SocialCatFish.com help you verify the identity of strangers you meet online. The FBI has reported an increase in catfishing schemes during the pandemic. It has been a historical event that has made the lonely even lonelier, and when we don’t interact with many humans in real life, it can become easy to lose grip on reality. Suddenly, a dreamy message from a stranger can seem viable. But remember that anyone can steal someone else’s images and pretend they are their own, while simultaneously tracking your life on your social media profile to learn just what to say to make you “fall in love,” and then send money.
Instagram verification
If you ever receive a DM on Instagram “from Instagram,” delete it. You may find messages claiming it’s the Instagram team, ready to verify your account with the all-elusive little blue checkmark. All you have to do is click a link, and enter some information – such as your Instagram password. But now you’ve given that to a hacker, and within your Instagram account, you may have other data stored like credit card information. Or they may simply hack your account and use it to scam others. HootSuite published a list of tips for getting verified here, and none of them involve an unsolicited message from Instagram.
GoFundMe “help”
In one of the saddest schemes of all, some scammers prey on those who are already short on cash – like those hosting GoFundMe or KickStarter campaigns for their surgery, car repair, pet’s medical care, and you name it. Accounts will message you or comment on your post, asking that you email them at a certain place, and claiming they will then financially help you. But why not just donate to the KickStarter you’ve published, right there, accessible to all? Because they want you to email them so they can ask for your bank information to “send you help.” But in reality, they want to hack your accounts.
“Is this you?”
Nobody wants their image being used without their consent, and certainly not for illicit purposes. So when a stranger DMs you with a link, surprise-face emojis, and an accompanying message that says “Is this you?! I found these photos of you online! Oh my gosh!” don’t open that link. It is likely a virus that will allow a hacker to get into your account. Never open any link from anyone you don’t know. Even if you are interested, personally, in, eh-em, adult content, go to verified websites that offer this, rather than opening a link a so-called “model” DMs you.
