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We get it — Instagram is a fun distraction and one that is especially helpful to have when you’re stuck at home. The social media photo-sharing app, which is owned by Facebook, has not been the focus of as much scrutiny as Facebook when it comes to security and privacy concerns, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored. If you’re on the hunt for apps you can prune to improve your security, keep in mind that this is the scary reason you should delete Instagram in 2021, according to security experts.
There are a number of Instagram hacks to keep your eye out for when you are using the app, says Tech Privacy Expert Ben Hartwig at InfoTracer. But there are a few popular ones that you are most likely to encounter — starting with phishing.
“Phishing [is when] you usually you get a message, which persuades you to send money or give your login details as Instagram detected suspicious activities in your account,” Hartwig says.
Another common Instagram scam? People trying to sell you fake products. “During the last four to five months fake medical product scams increased very quickly due to the COVID-19 situation,” Hartwig says. “The scammer is creating a fake brand profile and starting to gain views through ads. [But] after selling the product, customers didn't get anything.”
If you happen to connect to a fake hotspot, Prasad explains that a hacker “can then intercept data and use tools to inject malware into the devices connected to the hotspot.”
Prasad reiterates that the best way to make sure that your information is not being leaked if you absolutely must connect to public WiFi is by using a virtual private network (VPN) to secure your connection. “It is important that if not using a VPN, you are not logging into password-protected websites that can contain sensitive information,” Prasad says.
“You can check unknown persons through public records or reverse lookup tools to get details about a person's birth dates, criminal history, and other information,” Hartwig says. “Create a private account and manage who is seeing your stories and posts. This will help to filter people who you don't want to get more details about you and your lifestyle.”
And two more tips: never give out your log-in details and always use two-factor authentication.
