Something’s Phishy With the Instagram “HotList”

McAfee

Apr 25, 2019

3 MIN READ

Phishing scams have become incredibly popular these days. Cybercriminals have upped the ante with their tactics, making their phishing messages almost identical to the companies they attempt to spoof. We’ve all heard about phishing emails, SMiShing, and voice phishing, but cybercriminals are turning to social media for their schemes as well. Last week, the “Nasty List” phishing scam plagued Instagram users everywhere, leading victims to fake login pages as a means to steal their credentials. Now, cybercriminals are capitalizing on the success of the “Nasty List” campaign with a new Instagram phishing scam called “The HotList.”

This scam markets itself as a collection of pictures ranked according to attractiveness. Similar to the “Nasty List,” this scheme sends messages to victims through hacked accounts saying that the user has been spotted on this so-called “hot list.” The messages claim to have seen the recipient’s images on the profile @The_HotList_95. If the user goes to the profile and clicks the link in the bio, they are presented with what appears to be a legitimate Instagram login page. Users are tricked into entering their login credentials on the fake login pages, whose URL typically ends in .me domains. Once the cybercriminals acquire the victim’s login, they are able to use their account to further spread the campaign.

Images courtesy of Bleeping Computer.

Luckily, there are steps users can take to help ensure that their Instagram account stays secure:

Be skeptical of messages from unknown users. If you receive a message from someone you don’t know, it’s best to ignore the message altogether or block the user. And if you think a friend’s social media account has been compromised, look out for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors in their message, which are common indicators of a potential scam at play.
Exercise caution when inspecting links sent to your messages. Always inspect a URL before you click on it. In the case of this scam, the URL that appears with the fake login page is clearly incorrect, as it ends in .me.
Reset your password. If your account was hacked by “The HotList” but you still have access to your account, reset your password to regain control of your page.

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