It’s no secret that Instagram is full of fake accounts, bots and impersonators. If you take a look at the comments section on any trending post, you may come across many traps and crypto scams. However, there are far more elaborate fake accounts on the social network that have mastered the “art of appearing real,” and it’s hard to tell if they’re real and whether they’re there to scam you.
Some of the fraudulent fake accounts have been created so carefully that even traditional practical rules such as looking at profile pictures, checking their post frequency, considering the follower/follower ratio and the overall activity level of the app will not help you distinguish the real from the fake. Fortunately, there is a better way to find these accounts.
About this account…
On an Instagram profile you don’t know, tap the three dots and select “about this account” to search for the three important data Instagram provides you. The first of these is the “joining date”. Most fake accounts will be relatively new, as scammers tend to open new accounts when caught. What is “new” will depend on the context of the account and what it is promoting. However, in general, if an account is less than a year old, it’s a potential red flag.
Account location
The next important point is the “account location” information. For example, if you’re looking for an account for a rental flat in Istanbul, but the account is located in Nigeria, it’s probably not real. But keep in mind that some scammers will choose not to share the account location in their settings, so check that as well and be careful if anything else looks suspicious.
Previous usernames
The last detail to check is the “previous usernames” part. When a scammer is caught, this part may be the most important, as a username change can be an easy and quick solution to a fresh start without having to start all over. While it’s understandable that an account was recently created and legitimate, you can get a clearer picture of the account holder’s history when you match the “date of joining” with the “old usernames”. If an account has had several changes, this may be another reason to be suspicious.
While these three details don’t necessarily indicate whether an account is fake or not, they are factors to consider before deciding to share your data.
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