Scammers have successfully hacked hundreds of Heimishe Instagram and Facebook accounts belonging to Lakewood residents and beyond, including the account of famous singer Shmueli Ungar, LNN has learned.
Many Lakewood residents have been receiving private messages on Instagram from their friends telling them to simply reply with their cash app tag and they will receive a payment of $300. They then tell you to update your account email address to an email they provide in order for the payment to go through. Once you do that they have full access to your Instagram account and will then message your followers who think that you are sending the message so they trust it and that’s how they are catching more and more people into their trap.
If you receive a message on Instagram from your good friend or someone you trust be aware that it is probably not them sending it, and there is nothing they can do to stop it as they lost access to their account.
Never respond to suspicious private messages and never click on any suspicious links. It is also important to set up a two-factor authentication to take extra security precautions for your social media accounts.
For tips on recovering a hacked Instagram account click here and here.
