Instagram spam - what the fuck???? I'm not a user!

This topic was created by 1980s_coder .

[jake]

Re: Instagram spam - what the fuck???? I'm not a user!

You annoyed somebody who knows who you are.

Do the math: Knows your e-address, has a mugshot, knows your .nik ... logic at the ones and zeros level ain't exactly rocket science. You should be able to figure it out.

(No, it wasn't me. I have no idea who you are. Nor would I, if I did.)

[jake]

Re: Instagram spam - what the fuck???? I'm not a user!

"I am 99% sure of who it was, and I have already spoken to a solicitor about it, because my prime suspect has previously threatened me."

Orthogonal to this forum, so no comment.

"But does Instagram really allow account creation without sending out a verification link by email?"

More likely, instagram allows account email address changes without verification.

"Also, now they are demanding that I send copies of government issued photo ID before they remove the fake account(!)"

If you own the email address associated with it, you can remove the account.

"Fuck that. I'll just get the lawyers involved."

Have fun with that. I have a shredder, I never pass money through it.

[Vimes]

Try emailing the CEO?

http://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=75919&c=Instagram

It'll probably end up getting dealt with by the same people, but sometimes having the additional note 'deal with this' from the CEO attached to the call can sometimes encourage them to get it sorted more quickly and to your satisfaction.

[jake]

"That's interesting. That would imply that it was done deliberately,"

Uh ... As opposed to accidentally?

"rather than as a result of somebody innocently posting a photo of me and then later tagging it with my credentials, (if, indeed, Instagram creates accounts automatically in such cases)."

Where do you find "innocent" anywhere in there? Didn't you say that your your email address was linked to said account?

"How?"

You own the fscking email address. Email from that address, ask to have the account removed, and suggest (respectfully) that they respond to your email address to verify that you actually don't want that account to exist anymore. Reply to the response. POOF no more account on instagram.

"Most annoying is the fact that I have now received three identical standard form replies from Instagram telling me to email them photo ID."

I seriously doubt the email came from instagram. Gut feeling? Your system has security issues. One wonders what IP addresses the supposed email from instagram came from.

(note: I am not an instagram fan or user)

[Vimes]

You own the fscking email address. Email from that address, ask to have the account removed, and suggest (respectfully) that they respond to your email address to verify that you actually don't want that account to exist anymore. Reply to the response.

If the response from other services that I've received in the past is anything to go by when I've tried something similar then they'll ignore this and demand proof of identity.

Incidentally I'll admit to using Instragram, albeit rarely. I don't recall receiving any email from them when I set up the account with my own email address and when I started the app on my phone I get a message asking me to send a confirmation email to secure the account, but this is entirely optional and there seems to be nothing to stop me from ignoring it.

[Vimes]

OR somebody posted a photo of me in a private discussion, tagging it with my personal information, and Instagram have then set up an account and spammed me about it as a way of increasing their userbase.

Possible, but very unlikely IMO. Somehow I suspect that even in relatively liberal countries like the US this type of gathering personal information coupled with the subsequent display of said information to the wider public WITHOUT any form of consent would probably end up breaking a number of laws.

Even Facebook - assuming this is true - when they track people that aren't users they don't then make it publicly visible.

[Vimes]

What about the CEO? Or was that in reply to your email to the CEO?

[Vimes]

Umm.... and what were the security reasons that allowed the account to be created *without* verification from the user I wonder?

[Mark 85]

I don't know if you got your problem solved, but some networks allow you to open an account and later change the email addy. That might be what happened here. They opened it using a throwaway account and then changed the email to yours. I had that happen years ago on MySpace by an ex... Never could prove it, but it sure did smell that way from some of the things that "I" supposedly posted.

[Mark 85]

I have no idea if they do verify to be honest. I don't use social networking as I think it's a waste of my time and privacy. I had to seize control of that one account and then closed it.

If you haven't checked, it's possible the account is still open and the info viewable.

[Mark 85]

Exactly.. I quite agree with all points. There's one difference though, I don't use a cellphone for anything but calls and those are screened.

I'm not fond of the electronic leash and I sure don't like the idea of being tracked but I left GPS stand since if I'm in an accident it might be helpful if they (emergency services) could find me. My phone isn't from my home area code so the GPS part should be useful according to the local folks at the 911 call center.

[SilentNoise]

Another problem - it's a lot of spam pics in your feed, it appears when you practice "follow for follow" method and so on. If you faced with it too, i advise you good cheap service https://fast-unfollow . It removes quickly all ghost accounts that you follow