Instagram users were bombarded with pictures of fruit over the weekend in a spam attack that swept the photo-sharing network.
Photographs of fruit began showing up in users’ feeds, linking to a fake BBC news page headlined, “"Tropical Fruit Burns 17 Pounds in 22 Days. Exclusive Offer for Readers.” The spam photos were accompanied by messages such as "Ever seen this stuff? I guess its super healthy, im giving it a try. I saw it on Dr Oz's show! Link is in my bio #lovemyfollowers #health."
The images linked to a page disguised by URL shortening service bit.ly. Bit.ly has since placed a warning on the link. Instagram confirmed the attack via email, according to a report on GigaOm, saying, “Earlier today a small portion of our users experienced a spam incident where unwanted photos were posted from their accounts. Our security and spam team quickly took actions to secure the accounts involved, and the posted photos are being deleted.”
Some site users received an email saying, “We detected some suspicious activity that suggests your Instagram account may have been compromised,” along with instructions on how to reset their password, according to GigaOm.
ESET Security Evangelist Stephen Cobb offers tips on how to spot social media scams in a detailed blog post here.
