Instagram has added a new feature to its app to help users find out if an email was sent by the Facebook company or if it’s an attempted phishing scam i.e. to tackle phishing attacks.
PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 15: In this photo illustration, the social media application logo, Instagram is displayed on the screen of a computer on March 15, 2019 in Paris, France. Social media Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp have been affected by a global outage for nearly 24 hours on March 14, 2019 cutting virtual worlds to nearly 2.3 billion potential users. Facebook has explained the causes of malfunctions that have disrupted its networks in recent days. This failure is due to the “server configuration change” that has caused cascading problems Facebook is excused for the inconvenience caused to users and companies that are dependent on Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp to run their business.(Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
Instagram introduces New Updates
Now, if you receive an email claiming to be from Instagram, you can check its genuine by heading over to the “Emails from Instagram” option in the app’s security settings, which lists every email the service has sent you over the last 14 days. The update is under roll out now and may take time to appear in your settings.
The new menu divides the Instagram emails into two categories viz. security emails and “other.” If you see an email in there then you can be sure it’s legitimate, and you can safely click any links it contains. If it’s not, then it could be a phishing scam, whereby someone impersonates a service to trick you into giving them your username and password. In this case, you should probably delete the offending email. If the worst happens and your account gets compromised, then Instagram says you should follow the instructions listed on its help page.
It’s a welcome addition to the Instagram app, especially as phishing scams become more sophisticated. Some phishing scams can even break into accounts that use two-factor authentication using a fake site that asks for your six-digit code and immediately enters that into the real site on behalf of the scammer.
