Instagram is the latest target for scams

As soon as an online app becomes popular you can almost guarantee it will become a prime target for scams of all kinds.

The latest target is Instagram. Where scammers have been trying to take over accounts and get people to send them money or cryptocurrency.

Among the most frequent scams are loan and investment scams such as cryptocurrency scams, competitions and giveaway scams, job scams involving fake job ads, phishing scams to gain access to your account, and selling counterfeit products.

They all depend on trust and following of popular instagrammers.

Obvious safety precautions are to never click on links in any messages you receive purporting to be from an Instagram site you follow, being suspicious of seemingly authentic logos and branding, watching out for typos and poor English.

Set limits on who can message you and make your account private.

Of course, as always, ensure a good, strong password stored in a password manager using two – or more – factor authentication.