Instagram model, Markdabeast1 recently was contacted by his friend also a popular known Instagram model named Ashley Calejo who goes by her career name Neybronjames. According to Your Digital Wall Editorial Sacramento, Aug 5, 2019, she told him that there was an Instagram user claiming that he could help her get verified, a popular feature among Instagram users which only Celebrities, influencers, or well known public figures can obtain.
What’s the big deal on getting Instagram verified and what’s the price?
The feature provides you with a coveted blue checkmark next to your Instagram username which shows other users that yours is an authentic account.
You also can obtain brand awareness and monetizing perks by becoming a verified user.
While the verified badge is only for celebrities, influencers, and well-known figures of the public and can’t be bought, there has been a wide variety of undisclosed black market sellers claiming that they can verify your account at a price. THis can which can potentially result in being scammed for thousands of dollars or your account being compromised.
A report by Shipstation notes that digital agencies and publicists have close ties with Instagram and can request an account get verified. Instagram refers to this as media partner support. Instagram recently rolled out a feature in the settings tab that will give users a chance to request for account verification.
This was created to prevent the black market for illegal verification.
Markdabeast warns his friend about a potential online scam
Markdabeast1 convinced Ashley Calejo that the user account didn’t seem right at all and she shouldn’t trust it. A spam account was created posing as an Instagram employee to promote illegal services.
The account was referred to her by a musician named “Sulaimon” who is already verified on Instagram as username “ks1malaika.” The musician claimed that his account was verified by an Instagram user named Rita. The account was later reported by Mark in good faith of it potentially being spam, created for illegal business purposes.
The account was taken down immediately.
Once the account was removed by Instagram, Ashley received a direct message from the musician claiming that the spam account had been hacked by a third-party app and she could reach the seller via WhatsApp.
Ashley didn’t respond back to the musician as she knew that the account being hacked wasn’t the case and in fact, it was reported as spam and taken down by Instagram.
Mark takes further steps by reaching out to Instagram employees and the musician
Mark decided to take steps even further by sending direct messages to Instagram workers and reporting the matter of the ongoing situation. He then confronted the musician about his actions and was later blocked by him.
Mark never got a response from Instagram employees but he definitely stopped the scammer in their tracks.
