BENGALURU: Fake pages on photosharing application Instagram are luring thousands of Indians with promises of attractive giveaways on Republic Day.
These pages announce that online retailer Amazon is offering Rs 9,000 as gift cards to its new followers, digital payment Paytm is crediting Rs 4,000 to its users for every mention on Instagram or that fashion portal Myntra is giving away vouchers worth Rs 3,999 for sharing its page.
Thousands of new followers who follow these instructions end up waiting for their gift codes on the morning of January 26, unaware that they have fallen prey to one of the oldest social media scams: fake pages.
Many users grouse about thelack of a "proper response" from these ecommerce firms, not realising that such Instagram pages are run by scamsters and that the companies have no links to these unauthorised pages.
"This is something which happens quite often and these bogus cashbacks are the most recent. None of these are official handles and they keep propping up during the holiday season and flagship sales of these companies," said Indrajeet Bhuyan, an independent cybersecurity researcher who finds and reports instances of vulnerabilities on social media networks.
For instance, an Instagram page — titled as Amazongoindia — amassed 20,000 followers within a week, claiming that it would be offering gift cards worth Rs9,000 for the first 30,000 followers on January 26.
"I'm hoping to be one of the lucky 30,000 followers. I've done all the required steps to be eligible for the gift card," said Pavneet Kaur, who is among the many to follow the page. The demand from the fake pages is simple: Follow the account and tag it in your story to receive gift codes on January 26.
"Once the page comes to fruition, say 10,000 likes, the handle name is changed and the account sold," Bhuyan said. He estimates the pages are sold for anywhere between Rs2,000 and Rs5,000 depending upon the number of followers. These fake pages are usually named after popular ecommerce companies, thus gaining momentum online. Paytm Deals, Flipkart Official, Amazon Voucher, and the like are such fake accounts to name a few.
Paytm and Flipkart said that they have noticed such impostor accounts and have been actively working with Instagram to "ban" fakes, in email response to ET's queries. While ecommerce companies do run contests on Instagram to engage with their users, they urge customers to only look at the verified social handles and not fall for fake or phishing profiles. Amazon did not respond to ET's questions for this story.
Instagram, said it has a mix of automated and manual systems that help catch suspicious activity at various points. "We care deeply about the quality of content on Instagram, and take spam, inauthentic and other abusive behaviour very seriously. When we catch violating activity, we work to counter and prevent it, including blocking accounts," a spokesperson for Instagram told ET.
To convince users to follow the page, the fake accounts upload screenshots of customers who appear to have previously received the gift cards or QR codes. Users who buy in to these fake testimonials have expressed their excitement on the comments section: "One day to go", "Waiting for my gift card", "Done. Followed all steps", "Can't wait for the 26th" and the like.
That said, a few have also expressed doubts and raised red flags about such campaigns. "I tried one of the giveaways and did not get the payback despite me following all the steps ... It is disappointing," said a user.
The scamsters try to create the illusion of being transparent about the giveaways by putting up reassuring statuses. "We are trying to reach you all, we know many are pending to get QR code. But please wait for some time. It is not possible to reach you all in such short period," one such page said.
Security researchers said in a bid to stop such spurious activity social media networks do not allow users to change the username and URL of the account. "The sale of pages used to happen on Facebook too, but has now reduced because of the restrictions ... Instagram has yet to do something about it," Bhuyan said.
These pages announce that online retailer Amazon is offering Rs 9,000 as gift cards to its new followers, digital payment Paytm is crediting Rs 4,000 to its users for every mention on Instagram or that fashion portal Myntra is giving away vouchers worth Rs 3,999 for sharing its page.
Thousands of new followers who follow these instructions end up waiting for their gift codes on the morning of January 26, unaware that they have fallen prey to one of the oldest social media scams: fake pages.
Many users grouse about thelack of a "proper response" from these ecommerce firms, not realising that such Instagram pages are run by scamsters and that the companies have no links to these unauthorised pages.
"This is something which happens quite often and these bogus cashbacks are the most recent. None of these are official handles and they keep propping up during the holiday season and flagship sales of these companies," said Indrajeet Bhuyan, an independent cybersecurity researcher who finds and reports instances of vulnerabilities on social media networks.
For instance, an Instagram page — titled as Amazongoindia — amassed 20,000 followers within a week, claiming that it would be offering gift cards worth Rs9,000 for the first 30,000 followers on January 26.
"I'm hoping to be one of the lucky 30,000 followers. I've done all the required steps to be eligible for the gift card," said Pavneet Kaur, who is among the many to follow the page. The demand from the fake pages is simple: Follow the account and tag it in your story to receive gift codes on January 26.
"Once the page comes to fruition, say 10,000 likes, the handle name is changed and the account sold," Bhuyan said. He estimates the pages are sold for anywhere between Rs2,000 and Rs5,000 depending upon the number of followers. These fake pages are usually named after popular ecommerce companies, thus gaining momentum online. Paytm Deals, Flipkart Official, Amazon Voucher, and the like are such fake accounts to name a few.
Paytm and Flipkart said that they have noticed such impostor accounts and have been actively working with Instagram to "ban" fakes, in email response to ET's queries. While ecommerce companies do run contests on Instagram to engage with their users, they urge customers to only look at the verified social handles and not fall for fake or phishing profiles. Amazon did not respond to ET's questions for this story.
Instagram, said it has a mix of automated and manual systems that help catch suspicious activity at various points. "We care deeply about the quality of content on Instagram, and take spam, inauthentic and other abusive behaviour very seriously. When we catch violating activity, we work to counter and prevent it, including blocking accounts," a spokesperson for Instagram told ET.
To convince users to follow the page, the fake accounts upload screenshots of customers who appear to have previously received the gift cards or QR codes. Users who buy in to these fake testimonials have expressed their excitement on the comments section: "One day to go", "Waiting for my gift card", "Done. Followed all steps", "Can't wait for the 26th" and the like.
That said, a few have also expressed doubts and raised red flags about such campaigns. "I tried one of the giveaways and did not get the payback despite me following all the steps ... It is disappointing," said a user.
The scamsters try to create the illusion of being transparent about the giveaways by putting up reassuring statuses. "We are trying to reach you all, we know many are pending to get QR code. But please wait for some time. It is not possible to reach you all in such short period," one such page said.
Security researchers said in a bid to stop such spurious activity social media networks do not allow users to change the username and URL of the account. "The sale of pages used to happen on Facebook too, but has now reduced because of the restrictions ... Instagram has yet to do something about it," Bhuyan said.
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