The Black Market isn’t really a place as much as an industry of sorts. The Black Market can refer to any illicit trades or sales made where the providence of the product cannot or should not be questioned. Even though the Black Market is primarily known through the media for dodgy dealings in art and human organs, your digital valuables are no safer, even on Instagram.
A recent report by Avast entitled ‘Blue Checks on the Black Market,’ briefly discusses the rise in illegal sales of verified Instagram and Twitter accounts. As many of you will know, being verified on either platform grants you the use of a blue check placed next to your name, indicating that you are who you say you are. However, these marks mean so much more due to the constraints involved with acquiring them. Essentially, these marks make your account more lucrative and, thus, more attractive to threat actors.
In order to safeguard yourself from an attack that could see your account stripped from you, you need to know how to recognize such an occurrence. The basics of the phishing attacks used to pry access to your verified social media accounts away from you are simple to grasp. Basically, the attack usually starts with what is termed a phishing email. This is an email with leading text that usually appeals to your sense of security.
Therefore, the email might alert you to a Twitter or Instagram account breach. The email will look strikingly legitimate, but it’s of cardinal importance that you verify the email address before taking any kind of action. If it is not an official Twitter or Instagram email address, do nothing.
Next, you’ll be prompted to enter your full account details, including your password and username. This is how the threat actors gain access to your account. From here, they can use your account for anything, including selling it for a profit. Your verified social media accounts are incredibly valuable to threat actors as they represent a way to give legitimacy to whatever scams or fraudulent activity they’re involved in.
Don’t let this happen to you. In other, more positive news, Meta is toying with the idea of adding a built-in post-scheduling utility to the Instagram ecosystem.
