Instagram App Adds Tool to Prevent Phishing Scams

Instagram sends emails to users, but not all emails that purport to come from Instagram are genuine. Phishing is still a common way to gain access to social network accounts, and Instagram is a prime target. The company has now released a tool that lets users identify phishing scams quickly.

Fake Instagram emails are a big problem for the social network. People have a hard time figuring out which emails are real and which ones are trying to trick them into revealing personal information.

Some phishing emails can pass through weaker spam filters and look very much like the real deal. The only solution would be for Instagram to verify emails sent to users, and this is exactly what the new feature aims to do.

“Heads up: Today, we’re launching a new feature to help people identify phishing emails claiming to be from Instagram. This account security feature (accessed through Settings) allows anyone to check if an email claiming to be from Instagram is genuine,” revealed Instagram in a Twitter update.

Users can quickly access the Settings in the Instagram app and check whether the social network sent them any emails for security purposes or otherwise. If the email you received doesn’t appear in the Instagram Settings, it’s a phishing attempt.

Awareness of possible phishing attempts is not enough. It’s also essential to secure the account with multi-factor authentication (MFA), to choose a strong password and to change passwords regularly.