Instagram Accounts Can Be Hacked Using a Vicious Ray-Ban Scam

Have you seen advertisements posted on Instagram that offers designer sunglasses for practically nothing? Remember that if something sounds too good to be true, it is most likely a scam. The offers we are discussing in this article should contain Ray-Ban’s logo, but do not let them deceive you. Take a closer look at the ad, and you should notice that the link on it does not lead to the company’s official website, which is ray-ban.com. Cybersecurity experts warn users not to interact with such content as it could result in your account on Instagram getting hacked. If you want to know more about how the so-called Ray-Ban scam, we invite you to read the rest of our blog post, where we will talk about how the scam works and what you ought to do if you fall a victim to it.

How does the Ray-Ban scam on Instagram work?

It is believed that to start the scam cybercriminals might have used hacked Instagram accounts, which they could have purchased on the dark web. Those following hacked Instagram accounts probably fell victims to the scam after being tempted with the cheap offers. Consequently, with time, scammers should have more and more hacked Instagram accounts that they can use to spread the scam among more potential victims.

To be more accurate, the advertisements offer a 90% discount for chosen designer sunglasses. No doubt, such a huge discount may seem suspicious, but the fictitious offers may claim the deal is available for only one day, which might make the deal sound more believable to some users. All that the hackers have to do is wait till someone else forgets all commonsense and clicks the fictitious offer. Doing so might redirect victims to a website belonging to scammers. Naturally, to make it look as convincing as possible, the site could also contain the Ray-Ban logo.

Unfortunately, cybersecurity experts claim that clicking fake Ray-Ban offers might result in your Instagram account’s login credentials being recorded by cybercriminals. After gaining access to a user’s account, the hackers may take control over it, use it to distribute the fake offers among the victim’s followers, record personal information available through the account, sell it on the dark web, and so on. Therefore, no matter how much you may want to save on your new Ray-Ban sunglasses, we recommend staying away from all advertisements that offer them for a ridiculously small price.

How to avoid the Ray-Ban scam on Instagram?

The rule number one is you must be cautious. It means you should never click ads or interact with similar content before you confirm it is safe to do so. First of all, ask yourself whether the offered deal is not too good to be true. Then we recommend looking at the URL address of the website the advertisement might lead to. Fake websites that imitate various well-known brands can look very similar to the real thing.

However, usually, users can tell the difference from random symbols, doubled letters, or other details that are not supposed to be in an original website’s URL address. In some cases, scammers come up with names that could look legitimate to users who do not know how the original website’s URL address is supposed to look like. For example, the fake site’s name could include words like official, shop, etc. Meaning, if you do not know how the official company’s website is titled, you should first look it up so you could compare it with the link on an ad.

Another thing you should always keep in mind is that content on social media platforms can be unreliable even if it is shared by your friends or the accounts you follow. You can never know whose account could be hacked and employed for spreading scams like the Ray-Ban scam on Instagram. Also, it would be best if you could learn about such scams as early as possible. This you can achieve by regularly reading cybersecurity news.

What to do if your Instagram got hacked?

First of all, it is advisable to log out of all devices you or hackers could use to access your Instagram account. Next, it is crucial to change the password of the hacked Instagram account as quickly as possible. Nonetheless, you should not rush while thinking of a new password since it has to be strong for your account to be safe.

Creating a secure passcode might not be as easy as you imagine as nowadays a combination should be made from both lowercase and uppercase letters, symbols, and numbers. Also, it is advisable to use at least ten or twelve characters. Not to mention, cybersecurity specialists highly recommend creating unique passwords. It means that you should come up with a password that you have never used before.

If you find creating a strong password too complicated, you could employ a password manager that would generate a strong passcode for you. For example, Cyclonis Password Manager can create a password from up to 32 characters. No need to worry about forgetting the password as Cyclonis can remember it for you too. To find out more about this password manager, you should continue reading here.

Once you have a new and strong password, we recommend enabling Two-Factor Authentication for your Instagram account. Besides, if your Instagram was hacked and used to post more of the fake Ray-Ban ads, we encourage you to erase such posts to prevent others from clicking them.

All things considered, you should not beat yourself too much about falling for the Ray-Ban scam and getting your Instagram hacked. The Internet is full of attractive offers, and sometimes it is difficult to tell which advertisements are genuine and which ones are fictitious. What is important is that you make this experience count by learning from it so you could recognize similar scams in the future. If you want to know more about attacks on Instagram users and, most importantly, be prepared for them, you could continue reading here.