Security researchers say a Turkish-speaking group of cybercriminals is using an Instagram hack to dupe social media influencers into handing over money and even nude photographs as part of a digital extortion campaign.
According to Trend Micro, the attack begins with a simple phishing email that prompts users who have a large following on the Facebook-owned photo-sharing service to obtain a verification badge for their account profile. A “verified” badge is designed to help distinguish a well-known person’s account from potential fakes or other users with a similar name.
How the Instagram Hack Works
The phishing message prompts users to enter their login credentials, email and date of birth, among other information. After submitting the form, victims are shown a verification badge for a few seconds and then directed back to Instagram. Behind the scenes, the researchers observed the attackers switching the names of profiles, defacing profile pictures and flooding inboxes with security alerts.
In some cases, the attackers proceeded to add and then remove fake followers to a stolen account, as well as some possibly legitimate ones. Some victims were prompted to produce nude photos and videos as well as monetary payment in exchange for access to their accounts. If they failed to do so, the attackers threatened to hold the accounts hostage permanently or even delete them entirely.
An investigation into the attack discovered the words “account” and “eternal” written in Turkish on one of the victim’s profiles. This led to an online forum where other cybercriminals were discussing ways to steal accounts and prevent them from being recovered.
The Big Picture on Social Media Security
Users should be aware that Instagram wouldn’t ask for their login credentials as part of the process of receiving a “verified” badge, but it’s still easy to fall for phishing schemes when the domain names or landing pages look like the real thing. IBM experts suggest using ahead-of-threat detection to identify malicious URLs, scan images for hidden code and more before the actual threat becomes visible.