A Montreal woman who runs a travel blog had her Instagram account attacked, costing her thousands of dollars, and said the company has done little to help her out when she complained.
Through her site, Bucketlist Publications, Lesley Carter dispenses travel tips. That advice was also passed on through her Intagram account, where she had accumulated almost 150,000 followers.
The account was so popular that she was able to begin monetizing it.
“You can charge anywhere between $500 to $1,000 a post on Instagram,” she said.
The hacking of the account was compounded by the fact that Carter used the same password for her email account. She lost all her photos and control of the account.
“I started to feel like somebody was in my house, setting it on fire,” she said. “Everything is burning down around me and there’s nothing I can do.”
She claimed the hack cost her sponsorship opportunities and two trips, but when she reached out to Instagram for help, she became caught in an automated system.
“The automated system just sent me in a loop of reply, reply and never getting the account back,” she said.
“We work hard to provide the Instagram community with a safe and secure experience,” said Instagram in a statement. “When we become aware of an account that has been compromised, we shut off access to the account and the people who have been affected are put through a remediation process so they can reset their password and take other necessary steps to secure their accounts.”
Cybersecurity expert Steve Waterhouse said people who use the same password for multiple platforms are at increased risk.
“Make pass phrases which will be a combination of words and meanings that could be of only some meaning to you will help (make it more complex), and at the same time keep it as unique as possible,” he said.
Despite the loss of her account, Carter has pushed forward. She’s started a new page, which has gained 50,000 followers in the past two weeks.
