By Brandon R, staff writer
At least 10 different Galileo students have had their Instagram accounts hacked over the last few weeks. The majority of accounts that have been hacked were owned by females with followings in the hundreds.
According to students who have been hacked, the hackers, after successfully locking people out of their accounts, would use the accounts to promote ways to get people to give them money.
Then, the hackers would message more people from within the account, going after people that had recently messaged the account. This would allow the hackers to get into other people’s accounts, where then they would delete the previous account to erase any trace back to them.
Each student has had a different experience with this situation. Junior Jeremiah R said, “When I was hacked I thought I was helping out a classmate, I totally bit on the story, and sent my phone number, and a login link to my account. I didn’t know what had happened so I freaked out, luckily my phone number was linked to an alt account. I didn’t realize that my classmate’s account was hacked, until the next day when I heard her talk about it. I tried to get my account back using Instagram’s face login method.”
Junior Pauline D. explained her story, saying, “The way that I got hacked was when my friend on Instagram messaged me. I didn’t know that my friend was hacked too. So I didn’t think that the person who messaged me was an impostor.”
Many of the students whose accounts have been hacked were devastated when they found out. Most are outraged at the fact that someone is posing as them on social media and using their image to promote fraudulent crypto websites.
However, most have also been frustrated with Instagram at the lack of help they’ve received. Junior Brownyn T. said, “I haven’t gotten my account back, I wish I could, but I’ve tried all the steps and messaged Instagram relentlessly, still nothing.”
Although it was disappointing for students to have their accounts hacked, most have learned to deal with it. Brownyn said, “That account meant a lot to me and was pretty iconic but it’s okay, it’s an opportunity to start something new. I’m fairly upset, but oh well.”
Pauline added, “When my account got hacked, I felt sad. Even though I was sad, I was glad that I got a second account for Instagram. I don’t have any steps to get my account back. I don’t want to get that account back because it’s going to be stressful for me.”
