Sheffield residents warned over Instagram 'identity theft' scam

Sheffield residents are being warned about a new Instagram scam in which victims have had their identities stolen.
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Scammers use phishing emails to send fake Instagram login alerts claiming that someone has tried to access the victim's account.

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The user is asked to click on a link in the message and add in their login details to confirm their identity.

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But this hands over your username and password to hackers who can then hijack your account and steal your personal details.

Researcher Paul Ducklin, of cyber security firm Sophos, said: "Social media passwords are valuable to crooks, because the innards of your social media accounts typically give away much more about you than the crooks could find out with regular searches.

He warned members of the public to look out for spelling errors and misplaced punctuation that is often in fake emails.

Mr Ducklin also advised people to protect yourself by avoid sign-in links in any emails sent to you – always go to the site directly to login.

And if you think your account may be compromised, use that site's official channels for recovering it rather than relying on emails.