Have you noticed out of nowhere, a friend’s profile is suddenly posting Bitcoin-related content, and spamming their followers with direct messages?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZcfBKetDEi/

Rather than trial and error guessing passwords, hackers have a new way of gaining access to Instagram accounts.

Users are sent a link via DM, from a random profile or a friend who has been hacked. Often, these “random profiles” are hackers disguised as a “Financial educator,” “coach,” or “miner.”

The link sends you to what appears to be an Instagram login window, where you’d fill in your username and password, to continue through the link.

And there ya go, you’ve given over your username and password. Within minutes your password will be changed and you will permanently lose access to your account.

The “Instagram login window” was in fact a site owned by the hacker, designed to fool you.

Now that the hacker has full control of your account and all the information stored in it, they will start posting photos of “your brand new Mercedes” or your recent Bitcoin investments.

“Didn’t want to post about this all day but why not 😅 btw If y’all gknow me too well you’ll know this bitcoin thing ain’t for me but ever since I started trading with my mentor @_helen_gibbson she has totally changed my life fr, just got this new Mercedes y’all, 😃🔥it’s all thanks to bitcoin mining though, it has done the most for me recently, dm her @_helen_gibbson to start earning too 💯🔥”

Other users have reported being blackmailed by their hackers, threatening to post the user’s nude photographs if they refused to follow their orders to promote the Bitcoin-mining scam.

The user above ended up having her Venmo account emptied and still has no security as to where her explicit images may end up.

I hope this helped you brush up on your cyber-smarts. Remember, avoid opening links sent to you via Instagram (even if it’s from a trusted friend) and enable two-factor authentication to protect your account.