Scammers are invading Instagram. Avid users are advised to exercise caution.
Instagram’s popularity has grabbed the attention of scammers, and according to the October 2012 Symantec Intelligence Report, scammers have been attacking the social photo service’s users from various angles. Users will usually get a notification about an Instagram comment from an unfamiliar account. The comment will turn out to be irrelevant but will have a photo of an attractive woman with thousands of followers (but without a single photo).
The comment includes a shortened URL, which directs to a premium mobile service that offers videos of cute animals paid at €4.50 per month. To avail of this service, all users had to do was give their phone numbers.
Users are warned against clicking these shortened URLs. For added security, users are likewise advised to set their accounts to “private” and avoid following or accepting followers without photos. Not only that, the October Symantec Intelligence Report revealed a significant drop in email spam volumes in the month. Email spam has dropped by more than 10% — from 75% of email traffic in September to 64.8% in October.
Does the decline in email spam mean spammers are retiring from this illicit activity? Or are they perhaps moving on to other platforms and media, like social networks?
Source: Text100 Sg
Featured Image Credits: Subliminal Hacking
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