Phishing under the guise of verification: the Ministry of Internal Affairs warned about a fraudulent scheme with a “blue mark” on Instagram
Social networks have long become one of the main platforms for fraud, because it is there that attackers most often play on the user’s trust in the familiar interface, the loud names of services and the fear of losing access to their own page. The Ministry of Internal Affairs warned about a scheme in which fraudsters cover up the topic of verification on Instagram and convince people to give them their login data.
What the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported
The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that scammers have begun to more actively use fake sites and fake messages through which Instagram users are offered to obtain account verification. To do this, they impersonate Meta and send letters or messages in messengers with a proposal to undergo a supposedly official procedure. In such a message, a person is encouraged to click on a link where they promise to issue a “blue checkmark”, although in reality the goal of this scheme is to steal access to the account.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the scam begins with a contact that looks plausible, because the user sees a familiar company name, a verification topic, and an urgent offer to issue a badge. After that, the person is offered to follow a link and fill out a form that is supposedly needed to confirm the account. Then the user ends up on a phishing site stylized as Instagram, where they are asked to enter their login, password, and sometimes even a code from SMS, which immediately puts all the key login data in the hands of the scammers.
After entering the data, the attackers immediately use the information received to change the page settings and consolidate control over themselves. In such a situation, the account owner loses the ability to log in to the profile, change the password, or cancel third-party actions, since access has already been intercepted. The next stage of this scheme, as explained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, often comes down to extorting money for the return of the page, but even after payment, the scammers usually do not restore access, because their goal is money or further use of the stolen account.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs paid special attention to the way Instagram works with account verification, because it is precisely ignorance of this procedure that the fraudulent scheme is based on. The ministry emphasized that Instagram does not send private messages with a proposal to undergo verification, and a request for a mark is submitted through the “Settings” section. Users were also explained that the platform does not send such messages in direct messages or by email, so any offer of this type should already arouse suspicion.
How to distinguish a fake from a real procedure
The main sign of a fake is that they are trying to take the user outside the official application and direct them to a third-party resource where confidential data must be manually entered. If the message promises a quick issuance of a “blue mark” via a link, letter or private chat, the Ministry of Internal Affairs advises to perceive such communication as suspicious. You should check the information through the official Instagram application and the platform’s help center, as this is the only way to distinguish a real procedure from a fraudulent fake.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs recommends not following suspicious links, even if they are accompanied by logos of well-known companies or look convincing at first glance. You should also ignore messages in direct messages, messengers, or e-mail if they offer to get verified or urgently confirm the page. Since scammers count on haste and trust in a recognizable brand, the best defense remains the habit of checking any such offers only within the official application.
The essence of this deception is that a person is offered the desired result — a verified account — and in return is forced to voluntarily provide login data. Because of this, phishing in social networks often works faster than more crude schemes based on outright pressure, because the user sees a familiar brand, an attractive promise and a technically similar site. The main emphasis in the warning of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is on a simple but crucial detail: no real verification procedure begins with a private message and a third-party link.
The key rule that law enforcement officers insist on is to check any offers only through the official application and completely ignore private verification messages. For the user, this means caution, because one careless click on the link can end in the loss of the page along with all the information attached to it.
