Check ‘3 of your pictures and 4 hours of my time’ Instagram Scam, Avoid it

The scammers are now targeting social media more often. Recently, ‘3 of your pictures and 4 hours of my time’ Instagram scam trapped some users.

Nowadays, People are engaging more due to COVID-19 pandemic and self-isolation. This leads to scammers to get another chance to exploit the user base of social networks like Instagram. Let’s dive into it know what it is and how to avoid it.

What is the ‘3 of your pictures and 4 hours of my time’ Instagram scam

This scam spreads through direct messages to the user on the platform. The message will tell the user that they have chosen 3 of your pictures and spend hours on it to edit them along with a clickable link.

They tell them to click on it to get access and after opening it, the account will be hacked. There are many different phrases that these ‘3 of your pictures’ hackers are using to influence the user to click on the link. Here are some examples:

• I didn’t expect this to take so long, But I finally got it. You better love it. I used some of your pics.
• I finally got it all done and included some of your pictures. Check them out!

and many more with slight variation. The sole purpose of the message is just made the user click on the link and get hacked. See the screenshot of one of the messages below:

How to avoid ‘3 of your pictures’ Instagram scam?

If you got this type of message from one of your friends or followers then you can ask them whether they have clicked on such a link or not. The must-have fallen into the trap and ended up clicking on the click.

And now, the hackers have their bots on work. The bot messages with similar kinds of phrases shared above to all of the people that the victim’s account follows. If you are getting this type of message then don’t click on the link to avoid the attack.

(Also read: Instagram Name Change Prank 2020: How To Change Instagram Name/Username More Than Twice in 14 Days (3 times Solution)?)

What to do if have clicked the link?

Well, if you already clicked on the link of ‘3 of your pictures’ then there is still something you can do for getting out of it. The first step will be to reset the password immediately with a strong one. Then you can check the login activity from the app or desktop.

In login activity, you can see where your account has been logged in. You immediately log out all of them and now you feel safe. If you don’t know how to reset the password or see login activity then follow the steps below.

How to reset Instagram password after clicking the link of ‘3 of your pictures’ scam

Being a mobile-specific social media, the normal user only uses it only via app. We will share the steps for resetting the Instagram password on the mobile app. The desktop version has a similar kind of interface.

1. Open the Instagram app on your smartphone, and tap the bottom right corner on the profile icon.
2. After that, you will see a hamburger icon on the top-right corner, tap on it
3. Touch “Settings” at the bottom.
4. Select “Security”.
5. Now, find “Password” for getting access to the password setting for your account.
6. Enter your current password and a new password.
7. In the end, tap on the tick icon at the top-right corner.

With this, you have successfully reset your password, now follow the steps below for login activity.

How to check login activity to get out of ‘3 of your photos’ Instagram scam?

The last you could do after falling into the ‘3 of your pictures’ trap is to check the login activity and log out of everywhere. Here are the steps that you can follow if you are unable to find the option to do it on your smartphone.

1. First of all, open the app and tap on the profile icon visible at the bottom of your screen.
2. Find the hamburger icon at the top and tap on it.
3. Now, find the “Settings” button at the bottom.
4. You will see an option for “Security” settings.
5. Tap on “Login Activity” to access it.
6. If you see any login which you don’t know, just click on the 3-dots against it, and tap the log out button.

With these steps, you have successfully able to log out of your account from unauthorized locations or devices.

(Also check: Most Instagram/IG Live Viewers Record 2020: Acun Ilıcalı Breaks Record With 3+ Million Viewers.)

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