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'I let my guard down': Scammers targeting small business owners with Instagram takeover trick
Channel News Asia ^ | 16 Oct 2022 | Aqil Haziq Mahmud

Posted on 10/15/2022 10:08:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Scammers are duping small business owners into sending the password reset link to their Instagram page under the guise of confirming their identity.

Small business owner Dayana Rizal, 27, is no stranger to dealing with online buyers, but the one she encountered on Oct 3 seemed particularly - in her words - "harmless".

Ms Dayana, who sold clay mugs on her now-defunct Instagram page potekceramics, said the buyer was a sweet talker who seemed clueless about how to purchase her mugs online.

The buyer, using a private Instagram account with a few hundred followers, sent Ms Dayana a direct message with a screenshot of her wares, saying: "I want to buy this."

(Excerpt) Read more at channelnewsasia.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Conspiracy
KEYWORDS: instagram; scammers; scams

1 posted on 10/15/2022 10:08:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Not my circus, not my monkeys.


2 posted on 10/15/2022 10:31:12 PM PDT by nwrep
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To: nickcarraway
I read it twice, and I still do not understand what happened.

Every Change Password page I have seen requires you to type in your current password first.

At some point in this little drama, the woman had to type her current password into something. Alarm bells should be going off in your head the moment anyone not on a Help Desk asks you to type your password into anything.

If I understand correctly, the whole point of taking over this woman's website was to bombard her 4,000 customers with bogus Bitcoin ads?

That is freaking ridiculous!

3 posted on 10/15/2022 11:46:11 PM PDT by zeestephen
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To: nickcarraway

Grammar is bad and if they have to tell you it is real and legit, it isn’t.


4 posted on 10/16/2022 12:35:33 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith….)
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To: nickcarraway

Golly. If you can’t trust the Chinese commies who can you trust?


5 posted on 10/16/2022 12:39:20 AM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: nickcarraway

Some scammer texted me a reset link to my Amazon account. I could tell it wasn’t from Amazon. But a less experienced computer user might have been fooled.


6 posted on 10/16/2022 1:30:51 AM PDT by Angelino97
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To: Angelino97

Yep - we get a number of scam texts and emails - one easy “tell” is when they use your email address as your name or call you “Dear sir or Madam” instead of using your actual name


7 posted on 10/16/2022 4:27:33 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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To: trebb

The easy to tell is if they have a .yahoo or .gmail address


8 posted on 10/16/2022 4:36:27 AM PDT by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Juneteenth is inequality day)
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To: zeestephen

No, it’s for when you’ve forgotten your password. They send you a code, and if you enter it, it takes you to a page where you choose a new password. Instagram and Facebook are absolutely ridden with these scammers, because they take over accounts, use them to take over other accounts, and then draw people into bitcoin scams where they think it’s legitimate because “all these other people” are commenting on the site that yes, this bitcoin exchange site made them thousands. But all those comments are generated by the same scammer.


9 posted on 10/16/2022 4:38:10 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady (The greatest wealth is to live content with little. -Plato)
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To: A_perfect_lady
Re: "They send you a code"

Thanks for clearing that up.

I have zero experience on social media, and it shows.

Too bad Free Republic did not have that in 2004.

I lost my 2000 FR password in 2004 when I bought a new computer. I had to start over with a new screen name and no archive.

10 posted on 10/16/2022 5:36:56 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: Angelino97

I got the same ones. Twice in a 2 hour period.


11 posted on 10/16/2022 5:49:37 AM PDT by PrincessB
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To: nickcarraway

It’s hard to believe, in late 2022, that there are still people who are this stupid.


12 posted on 10/16/2022 5:57:32 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (Don't wish your enemy ill; plan it. )
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To: nickcarraway

“Scammers are duping small business owners into sending the password reset link to their Instagram page under the guise of confirming their identity.”

not news ... EVERYONE uses this scam ... i get at least two of them every week ...


13 posted on 10/16/2022 6:48:49 AM PDT by catnipman (In a post-covid world, ALL "science" is now political science: stolen elections have consequences)
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To: A_perfect_lady

I refuse to do business with any entity through FB or any other such platform. That includes local government entities, city, county, state agencies as well as private businesses.

Do not feed the beast.....even for pictures of the kids.


14 posted on 10/16/2022 7:08:14 AM PDT by Roccus (First we beat the Nazis........Then we defeated the Soviets....... Now, we are them.)
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To: nickcarraway

This is deceit, not hacking. Could be done with any website. Not specific to Instagram, Facebook or Paypal.


15 posted on 10/16/2022 8:28:56 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Kick every last democrat out of office! )
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