A few weeks ago, Winnipegger Holly Saint-Pierre’s friends started asking her if she had created a new Instagram profile. Holly Saint-Pierre was shocked to discover that the profile in question was promoting sexual content using her name and photo.
I clicked on the profile and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s not me’, said Holly Saint-Pierre, who specified that she does not produce content with a sexual nature. Profile posts are intended for sale a type of pornography.
The photos were stolen from Holly Saint-Pierre’s personal account by a cheater. This one seems to want to get money from his victim’s account subscribers in exchange for sexual content that is supposed to represent him.
” They are enlarged images of … things that are not even understood. Can not say [ce que ou qui c’était]. “
However, this isn’t the first time Holly Saint-Pierre has had to deal with cheaters. In September, someone created a fake profile asking his followers to sign up for a paid site that offered explicitly sexual content. This profile was deactivated by Instagram at the request of Holly Saint-Pierre.
He then decided to make all his publications private, but recently he chose to make them accessible again. He thought he was safe from another scam.
So history repeats itself, but this time Instagram has not deactivated the fake account. Holly Saint-Pierre said some of her acquaintances still follow the deceptive profile.
Now, the contents of his personal account are private again. He has no plans to change his mind. “I have to make sure [mon profil] never to be duplicated again. “
More detailed scams
Fraud schemes like this are becoming more sophisticated, according to Clement Ryan, a professor in the Department of Communications at the University of Winnipeg. Not to take reckless steps, such as clicking on a suspicious link, to be targeted.
The professor advises to make sure the published content matches the person the profile should represent. Is this something man will do [ou] to say? Often [les fraudes] is convincing, now, especially with software that can mimic voice and soon faces as well he explains.
When it comes to Holly St. Pierre on Instagram, Ryan Clement is no longer surprised. This is a problem that Instagram needs to fix. It needs to be more delicate to ensure there is more transparency and authenticity of who the profile represents and who uses the profile.he believes.
CBC/Radio-Canada tried to reach Instagram’s communication service, without success. On the platform’s support page, it is stated that the social network takes security seriously and encourages its users to report fake profiles.
Agencies like the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center can help victims of online fraud, but there is little way because it is often difficult to pinpoint the whereabouts of the fraudster, Clement said.
Winnipeg police take these incidents seriously, but have limited their capacity at the local level. Typically, individuals who commit this type of fraud are located outside the borders of Canada. Plus, these scams are often spread across Canada, not just in Winnipeg.the Police Department wrote in a statement.
With information from Joanne Roberts
Source: Radio-Canada
