So, you’re working really hard on your Instagram account and you get a chance to get new likes/shares simply by signing up and downloading ad app. When you download this app it then asks you for your username and password. You think, hey, this will really help me nail my goal, and you happily fill out and send the information. What does this get you? How about being an active participant in one of the biggest social botnets ever!
The name of the app was
InstLike, and what it did was take over your account and begin arbitrarily following and liking different individuals totally at random. Not only did it randomly like others’ posts, but it also offered a way for you to gain more likes and follows by purchasing virtual currency. Every user got several free coins a day to purchase likes and follows for 1 coin and 10 coins respectively. To add to the appeal, 100 coins only cost you a buck.
You may ask who in their right mind would ever give away any password and user name. Who would pay for likes and follows like this anyway? Well, from June 9, 2013 to Nov. 3013 it is estimated that between 100,000 and 500,000 Instagram users signed up for this free app! This effectively gave InstLike’s creators the control of thousands of accounts giving them the ability to manipulate likes and follows in an artificial way.
To add to the insult and injury it didn’t just affect Droid users but Apple users as well. The insane thing is before the app was completely disabled it was one of the most downloaded app on both market places. Even though Apple has remained tight lipped on the revenue generated from this app, the Google Play store admits it was consistently either the #1 or #2 grossing apps among utility applications.
In today’s cyber world most of us take it for granted that we all know the rules to keep us safe from cyber scams like this. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that do not know that you never give out your password to anybody, even if the individuals claim to be from the platform or app that you using. It is important for all of us to teach others that this type of practice is not only dangerous it is against most term of use policies of social media sites.
This means that you could potentially have your accounts frozen or even permanently closed for violating the rules you agreed to uphold when signing up. This may seem trivial but if you are really invested in your account it can be devastating especially if you use your account for business purposes.
So, if you’ve been affected what do you do now? Well, the best thing to do is to change your password and to delete the app off your device as soon as possible. If you don’t, then the app will continue to post from your zombiefied account. Be careful out there folks! Make sure to do some research before using any app no matter what claims the makers of that app may make. Think smart and help others to protect themselves as well by reminding them to be careful online and retain a degree of skepticism.