More than 2000 emails sent daily. A major email phishing campaign, led by hackers targeting French Instagram users, was revealed on Thursday, August 25, by the specialized site Numerama. Their goal: to make victims believe that they will be able to obtain a certified account.
Denounced by Vade, a cybersecurity company, this operation, ongoing since the end of July 2022, aims to confiscate personal data (login ID, credit card number, password, etc.) of users of the social network that would have the imprudence to respond. the form submitted by the hackers.
These emails exploit the fact that many Instagram users want to get their account certified, a symbol of success represented by the appearance of a blue dot to the right of the username. Thus, the fraudulent emails indicate to the recipient that their account has been examined by Instagram and that it is now eligible for the famous certification.
The certified account: an individual application
To seduce its recipients, the message invites them to click on a link, give their identifiers, and finally fill out a form that requires them to enter their name, email address, phone number, and password. Once the operation is done, a message informs him that his profile is already verified and that Instagram will contact him within 48 hours. Which never happens. In the meantime, the recovered data can potentially be resold or even reused to access other websites.
It’s relatively easy to be fooled: to better deceive their victims’ surveillance, hackers perfectly imitate Instagram’s graphic identity, leading the most gullible to believe that it is indeed an email sent by the platform owned by Meta.
However, in order not to fall into the trap, it is important to know that the social network never sends an email whose subject is a request for certification until the user has requested it. And this even if the account in question has several thousand subscribers. Also, it is quite difficult to get the coveted blue badge unless you are a well-known personality or a company with a significant volume of subscribers.
Source: BFM TV
Emily Miller is a voice to be reckoned with in the world of opinion journalism. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a unique and thought-provoking perspective to current events and political issues, delivering insightful and engaging commentary.