My IG account was hacked - beware

[Avondale]

(This is a repost from Hangout but most of the people I'm in contact with reside here so may the forum gods forgive me this transgression.)

This is just a PSA because I had some folks from PS in there.

The account was hacked in the middle of the night, everything about it was changed, and I doubt that it's recoverable, since IG are notoriously bad with such cases.

The handle was changed from ladyavondale (which some of you knew) to __ava.anna.elli.e - so if you used to follow me, check your lists for this account and remove it. Don't interact with it, don't respond to messages from it, it has been hacked and might be onto god know what. Just straight up block it.

I don't really care. That account only existed so that I can talk to some PS folks and ogle gems, it had nothing on it and was completely anonymous. The greatest loss is the message history. And since they changed my handle, I can just make a new one with the same name. So don't be surprised if you receive a new follow from me, just as long as I can find you again.

 

[minousbijoux]

So curious as to whats in it for them? I don't doubt there's some angle there, but this [lack of] devious mind, doesn't get it...

I feel you, because my kids and I are reeling from the unexpected death of a close family member. We have been so preoccupied with all the estate and account stuff - gathering up all the notarized signatures and providing certified copies of the death certificate - that it never once dawned on us to reach out to the credit agencies. It just seemed like of course they'd be aware of his death. Well our rude awakening was logging on to what we thought was a dormant email of his only to find that despicable scammers had taken it over and had been opening credit accounts and securing loans in the name of the deceased. Simple solution? The minute someone passes, contact one credit agency to freeze their credit while you gather all the proof of death necessary to have account declared dormant. They, in turn, will notifiy the other two credit bureaus. Sorry for the TJ, just wanted you to know its almost impossible to avoid

You are an important member and source of info here, so I hope this doesn't slow you down at all!!

 

[Autumn in New England]

People who exist just to complicate other people's lives are the worst. Sorry this happened!

 

[Avondale]

So curious as to whats in it for them? I don't doubt there's some angle there, but this [lack of] devious mind, doesn't get it...

I feel you, because my kids and I are reeling from the unexpected death of a close family member. We have been so preoccupied with all the estate and account stuff - gathering up all the notarized signatures and providing certified copies of the death certificate - that it never once dawned on us to reach out to the credit agencies. It just seemed like of course they'd be aware of his death. Well our rude awakening was logging on to what we thought was a dormant email of his only to find that despicable scammers had taken it over and had been opening credit accounts and securing loans in the name of the deceased. Simple solution? The minute someone passes, contact one credit agency to freeze their credit while you gather all the proof of death necessary to have account declared dormant. They, in turn, will notifiy the other two credit bureaus. Sorry for the TJ, just wanted you to know its almost impossible to avoid

You are an important member and source of info here, so I hope this doesn't slow you down at all!!

You're very kind! I don't believe this will have any long lasting effect. It was annoying at best, as it turned out my old username is unavailable for the next two weeks (I'll change it back after). I've already managed to find most of the people I used to follow before. I've missed some, and I have no idea who, but oh well.

I suspect two possible reasons. Either trying to steal information which... good luck. Or trying to get a ransom in order to return the account which, again, good luck. In any case, no one has tried to make contact. And if they do, they'll be in for the cursing of their life.

People who exist just to complicate other people's lives are the worst. Sorry this happened!

Annoying cockroaches, I'm tellin' ya!

To be honest, I place the majority of the blame on Meta. They have zero security and absolutely no adequate way for an account to be recovered once it's hacked. Meanwhile, when my LinkedIn account got hacked, their support had it reinstated for me a mere 20-something minutes after filing the ticket.

 

[Odyssey44]

You're very kind! I don't believe this will have any long lasting effect. It was annoying at best, as it turned out my old username is unavailable for the next two weeks (I'll change it back after). I've already managed to find most of the people I used to follow before. I've missed some, and I have no idea who, but oh well.

I suspect two possible reasons. Either trying to steal information which... good luck. Or trying to get a ransom in order to return the account which, again, good luck. In any case, no one has tried to make contact. And if they do, they'll be in for the cursing of their life.



Annoying cockroaches, I'm tellin' ya!

To be honest, I place the majority of the blame on Meta. They have zero security and absolutely no adequate way for an account to be recovered once it's hacked. Meanwhile, when my LinkedIn account got hacked, their support had it reinstated for me a mere 20-something minutes after filing the ticket.

How obnoxious!! It's hard to believe people keep much private info on their IG account. Glad it was not too horrible for this to happen to you and you'll get your old username back.

 

[Avondale]

How obnoxious!! It's hard to believe people keep much private info on their IG account. Glad it was not too horrible for this to happen to you and you'll get your old username back.

Well, at some point... maybe... if IG doesn't bug out. But it's all good, I'm fine with a new username as well.

I think most people don't realise how bad the security can be without 2FA through an authenticator app. I certainly would have never imagined they lack even the most basic and rudimentary support for hacked accounts. Can I really blame others for not knowing? FB has been around for so long, IG is basically the same company but a slightly different platform, people are used to trusting it with personal information.

Anyway, wanna know something curious? Next evening there was a second hacking attempt against my new account, only this time they couldn't get through due to the 2FA. I figured it was my email address that was being targeted, or my connected FB profile. I secured and changed everything, passwords included, and keep the two accounts separate now. There have been no further attempts.

And the old account appears to no longer exist, so there's that at least.