#WARNING! #FakeInstagram #ScamAlert

/ Marcia Meara

Heading out to help my hubby celebrate his birthday, but wanted to let all my followers know that I have NEVER (nor would I EVER) direct message anyone from Instagram. It appears there are a couple of fake accounts with my name on them, though they have added a number or two behind the name, and they are trying to scam folks. PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER THESE MESSAGES. They are NOT from me, and I have no idea what they might be trying to accomplish. Tomorrow, I will find out what I have to do to close them down. 

I’m SO sorry for this! (It’s why I closed my Facebook page 2 years ago!)  It’s just not worth the risk, sometimes.

 

34 thoughts on “#WARNING! #FakeInstagram #ScamAlert”

    • No, it’s not my fault that it happened, but one of my friends emailed me to see if it was from me, so I wanted you all to know I’ve never messaged a soul from my Instagram account. Just delete anything you see coming from me from any social media other than my email and you should be fine.

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    • Honestly, it wasn’t my intent to apologize for the act. I was just saying I’m sorry it happened to a lot of my friends, and giving a warning if you do receive a direct message from Instagram that looks like it came from me, it’s a fake. This kind of thing is so infuriating! Grrrr …

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  5. Goodness, I’m sorry for you, dear Marcia. But you needn’t worry about any of us. Scams are a way of life for some people – unfortunately! Enjoy your hubby’s birthday!! 💗

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    • Thanks, Gwen. I just wanted to give my followers a heads up that this was going on, and to reassure them any such messages are NOT from me. As I said to John above, there are way too many people out there with too much time on their hands and no moral compass at all! *sigh* And thanks for the birthday wishes. We had a fun day! 🙂 ❤

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    • Yep, it happens, I just wanted to let you guys all know that any direct messages that come from Instagram and purport to be from me is fake. I’d be really upset if any of my friends got taken in. But hey. At least they aren’t asking for money like the person who pretended to be me on Facebook was doing. ARRRRRRRGGGH. That one is GONE, and I just might close Instagram, too, and least for now. There’s got to be some way to get those phony accounts down, and if I figure it out, I’ll do a post on it.

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    • Smart idea, Yvette. I don’t open anything unless I know for sure it’s from a safe source or a person I do know, and regularly communicate with. There are some dead giveaways in some of the scam texts & emails I get daily, and those are reported as Spam and deleted right off. It’s frustrating that we get these things, as though we really need extra complications in our lives these days. This one made me pretty mad, but not quite as much so as the miserable person who was asking all my Facebook friends for money while pretending to be me!! I couldn’t close my account fast enough.

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  9. The blame lies completely with those who do the scamming and I doubt that there’s anyone reading this post who haven’t been targetted more than once. It’s one of those sad facts of life now, but I appreciate the heads up – or I would if I still had an Instagram account! 😀 Enjoy the birthday! ❤

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    • Oh, for sure on the blame. I’m just royally P.O.’d that my friends, family, and fellow bloggers & writers could have been (or still may be) put at risk with whatever this rotten person is trying to do. GAH!!! Isn’t life tricky enough these days without having people actively trying to con us all the time? There must be a special place in hell for them. If there isn’t, there should be. You can’t really promote your books without social media, and it’s a hard enough process without hackers and scammers getting in the way.

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    • Thanks, Craig. It’s truly disheartening, isn’t it? Somedays, I despair, and then I read something wonderful and uplifting, and try to tell myself not everyone is that mean, evil, dishonest, rotten, and downright cruel. (Pick one. Or two.) 😀

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  12. I’m sorry to hear this Marsh. You do know that Fakebook owns Instagram, so sadly, not surprised. I haven’t visited my Instagram page in a few years now. I’m dizzy with enough social media. Hugs xx

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    • I’m pretty sure I’m going to close my account altogether, Debby, but I don’t know how to get rid of the fake ones. I’ve seen two so far under my name with a number at the end (46) on one of them. I’m still hunting for a way to have them removed, but maybe if I take down my actual account, which I never find time to use, anyway, they’ll disappear? No clue. I’m just so sick of some of the crap going on on Social Media these days, yet without it, how do independents get their work “out there?” It seems a no-win situation, and some days, it’s annoying and disruptive enough to make me want to give it all up. I think the only reason I don’t is that I’d miss my online friends too much. *sigh*

      Thanks for stopping by and taking a moment to commiserate! 🤗

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      • Marsh, I’m 100% with you. We are damned if we do or don’t as writers with the BS of social media. Fakebook is a mess, I hate it. I had deactivated my account years before I began publishing. We are surely stuck in this dilemma. As for Insta, is there no ‘help’ button to click anywhere to inform? I know so many who’ve been hacked on FB, they are notorious for NO support. I hope someone reading your post has something helpful for you. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. ❤

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        • Thanks, Debby! And so far, I’ve found no help under “Help.” Figures. Plus I’ve seen a TON of similar complaints when I Googled around a bit. I’ve got plenty of company, it seems. And to make matters worse, at least one of the fake sites shared some of my photos before adding a ton of their own stuff (some of which I’d never post anywhere!). I guess that was to make it look legitimate. I’m so torqued off at them right now! Grrrrrrr ………

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