Cryptocurrency Scammers Take Over Instagram
Scammers on Instagram are more prominent than ever! Lately, all the buzz is about the large presence of cryptocurrency scammers, creating copy-cat profiles using photographs and videos belonging to the real Cryptocurrency influencers.
For example, cryptocurrency influencer, Jason Sallman, says he has discovered more than 500 imposters using content from his Instagram page and posing as him. This problem doesn’t stop at copyright infringement. These scammers are pushing bogus crypto-investment schemes with the intent to lure in unsuspecting Instagram users and steal thousands of dollars from them. (Parisi, Joseph, CNBC, 2021).
In fact, the issue has gotten so out of hand, that consumers reported losing more than $80 million to cryptocurrency investment scams between October 2020 and March 2021, an amount 10 times higher than the previous year, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
So, you might now be wondering… “what is Instagram doing about it?” Well, not much, according to influencers. "When it first started happening, Instagram was really good about deleting the profiles. But it kind of went away," one influencer noted. "I'll report them myself and they literally message back and say, 'Oh, they're not doing anything wrong. We can't take the profile down.'" (CBS NEWS, 2021).
Even more shockingly, Instagram doesn’t offer its two billion users a helpline or a way to speak with some sort of customer service representative. So, influencers, and even fraud victims, are still struggling with removing these clone accounts.
Sallman noted that he has even received death threats from users who have managed to locate his real account, demanding to be compensated for their losses (Parisi, Joseph, CNBC, 2021).
We now live in a world where social media influencing has become a means of livelihood for individuals, and for many, their sole source of income in their households. And so, influencers are demanding that Instagram make things right.
“The content you create is more identifying than your SSN or even phone number,” Brian Vecci (Chief Technology Officer of a Data Security Firm), said. “We deserve strict privacy regulations and should demand that all companies treat personal data with more care than they do” (CNBC, 2021).
Stay tuned for the sequel to this blog, which covers a story about one of our own attorneys, who had a close call with an Instagram scammer herself, while negotiating a contract with a Cryptocurrency Influencer, or so she thought.
