Because Instagram looks and works a certain way, the scams you’ll find here look and work a certain way too. These can range from fake influencer sponsorships and phishing messages to fraudulent online stores and investment schemes. Many of these scams are similar to others you’ll find elsewhere on social media, like romance scams and job scams, but with their own twist. Cybercriminals often create convincing profiles and attempt to lure victims into sharing personal information or making payments. As Instagram continues to grow, it’s crucial to stay aware of the latest scam tactics, and know how to identify and avoid them to keep your account and personal information safe. Let’s take a look.

Types of scams on Instagram

As the Instagram platform grows, so do the tactics used to deceive users. From fake giveaways and impersonation accounts to phishing links and investment schemes, scammers use clever tricks to exploit trust and steal money or personal information. Knowing the most common types of scams on Instagram is the first step to staying safe while you scroll.

Investment scam and phony influencer Instagram scams

You just picked up a new Instagram follower — and got a new follow request to boot. It’s from someone who looks like they’re living some kind of high-end lifestyle. Their profile is full of the person’s pics at swanky hotel lobbies, exotic outdoor bars, or stepping out of six-figure cars. With all that, they make you a promise, usually for a life of financial freedom. Enter the “influencer” investment scam. The account is fake, and so are the “guaranteed” investment opportunities that will rake in the big bucks quickly. They’ll ask you for money as a stake in a phony investment or payment for bogus financial advice. Once they have that money, they’re gone, leaving you in the lurch.

How to avoid them

Delete the request and move on. If that account has hundreds or more followers, they’re probably just as fake as the scammer’s account. You can take the extra step of reporting the account for suspicious activity. This will alert the platform and help remove the account if it’s indeed a fake, saving other innocent people from getting taken in by it.

Lottery and sweepstakes Instagram scams

These scams come in several forms. One is where the scammers create copycat accounts of known sweepstakes brands, inform you that you have won a huge cash prize, and ask you to pay a fee to claim your “prize.” They will ask you to provide your account info so that the sweepstakes organizers can send you your “winnings.” The other has scammers hijack the account of a legitimate influencer or business and prey on their followers. Either way, the “winner” is asked to fork over money orders, gift cards, or cryptocurrency for a “processing fee.” These payment forms share something in common — they’re tough, if not nearly impossible, to recover in fraud cases. In other cases, the scammers will ask “winners” to enter their financial info on a bogus website to process the “prize.”

How to avoid them

A legitimate sweepstakes or lottery will never ask you to pay to claim your winnings. If someone asks you for money, financial info, or both, take a screenshot of that message and report the account. Remember, you have to enter a sweepstakes or lottery to win it. You don’t get added randomly.

Instagram phishing scams

You’re on your phone and a text comes through. It’s from Instagram support. Your account’s been hacked! But don’t worry. You can fix it. All you need is to click on this link. In all likelihood, that link has been shortened to hide the URL of the true destination. Hint: It’s not to Instagram. The link sends you to a phony “account reset” page where you’re asked to tap in your login info. If you protect your account with two-factor authentication, it’ll ask for the secure PIN that you just got sent. With that, the hacker hops onto your account, changes your login, and locks you out. From there, they either hold it for ransom or use it to commit other forms of fraud.

How to avoid them

This advice applies to any account hijacking attempt — don’t click that link. Log into your account, set up a new strong and unique password, and turn on two-factor authentication if you haven’t already. Also, never share your secure PIN with anyone who asks for it, even if they claim to be tech support or a rep.

“Free stuff” and discount Instagram scams

These scams are similar to the lottery and sweepstakes scams, but instead of offering cash prizes, they offer things like free airline tickets, deep discounts at big box stores, and other deals for clothing, shoes, and handbags. Here, the scammers lift the logos and branding of well-known companies and build accounts around them, like “bignameairlinegiveaway.” They’ll stock those accounts with lots of followers using a mix of bots they created and actual people who’ve taken the bait. At some point, they might message their potential victim and announce an offer with a shortened link. Just tap the link and fill in your personal info on the site to claim it — with a small “handling fee” and your credit or debit card. Of course, there’s no special offer. The scammers have gained the victim’s info, a few bucks, along with a card number, expiration date, and CCV number they can use to commit further fraud.

How to avoid them

Again, if it sounds too good to be true …. If their offers look just good enough not to seem like a scam, you can do a few things:

  1. Look at the links. Do they look close to the name of the brand behind the offer, but with a slight change? For example, “BigNameAAirline.com” where they alter the address just enough. If you see anything like that, it’s very likely a scam.
  2. Contact the company or brand to see if the deal is real. Reputable companies and brands have customer service departments that deal with these kinds of questions.
  3. Do a search, like “BigNameAirline Instagram scam.” See if anyone else has had the same fishy experience. A scammer will make you think that you’re the only winner, but in fact, that same notice probably went out to thousands of other people.

More tips on protecting yourself from Instagram scams

These additional tips will help you stay one step ahead and keep your account—and your information—secure.

Use strict privacy settings

Set your social media profile to private so that only approved friends and family members can access it. This will circulate less of your personal info in public. Features like our Social Privacy Manager can easily do this on Instagram and your other social media accounts.

Be a skeptic

Instagram makes it easy to create accounts and target people with ads, just like Facebook, making it easy for scammers to flood your feed with bogus offers and promos. Run searches to find out if others got scammed, follow up with businesses and brands to see if the offer is real, and simply use your judgment to detect fraud.

Use a scam detector

Combine your healthy skepticism and awareness with the right technology, like our Web Protection and Scam Detector. Both will alert you if a link might take you to a sketchy site. It’ll also block those sites if you accidentally tap or click on a bad link.

If you spot a scam, report it

You can report suspicious Instagram accounts and follow that up with a trip to Instagram’s Abuse and Spam Center. Also, in the spirit of doing what you can to shut down scammers, file a report with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.