Hackers Are Increasingly Hijacking Instagram Accounts And Replacing With Them With Porn

Hackers are always looking for ways to make a living off you and these days, the most common way they do this is by  luring you to click on links that may eventually install a malware on your device and from there on out, the rest as they say is history.

This time though, security firm Symantec says hackers are infiltrating Instagram accounts by hijacking profiles and replacing pictures and bio links with adult websites. This they do to earn commissions from such sites by redirecting users from Instagram.

“These fake profiles, which use photographs stolen from legitimate profiles, feature three variations to follow users and like photos.  Through these interactions, they lure users to their profiles in order to earn a commission through affiliate links to adult dating websites.”

By clicking on such links, these pornographic in nature sites open on mobile browsers but in desktop, you are directed to a random Facebook profile.

Hijacking a user’s profile is just one way these guys are trying to achieve their objectives, sometimes they contain a single photograph split into tiles to form the full photograph. They overlay a button with the caption “18+” that is strategically placed on various body parts. Clicking on any of the images in the tile will reveal a note instructing the visitor to go to the “official profile” which is linked. This final profile contains a random assortment of images of women in bikinis and lingerie. The bio claims that the visitor could have an erotic meeting if they visit the link in the profile.

While Symantec doesn’t exactly say how the hackers may be doing this, it’s likely through weak passwords which has become a huge problem to tech companies. There’s also the possibility of getting a legitimate user’s passwords from another site entirely and this is common in cases where people use one password across multiple sites. So if you remember the LinkedIn, Twitter and My Space breaches, hackers were able to steal hundreds of millions of emails and sold them on the dark web for as low as $2000.

If you’re reading this, don’t panic. All you have to do is visit your profile to make sure yours is intact and whether you have been affected or not, you should probably change your password as well. In my experience, hackers usually prefer to take over accounts that record low activity online. You might want to do something about that and if you notice a friend’s account may have been compromised, you should tell them.