You must have read or heard about the Instagram Phishing Scam ‘The Nasty List‘ in last few days. Read it, if you haven’t. There’s this new Instagram phishing scam based on the successful ‘The Nasty List’ called ‘The HotList’.

The HotList scam pretends to be a source having a list of pictures ranked on their hotness level. The user has to open the link to check his/her hotness rank, but the link takes you to a fake Instagram login page, where you will be required to enter your username and password to get access. Once you do it, you’re grilled. They steal it.

But how does it even start? You may get a message from someone random or maybe someone known saying, “I just saw a few of your photos on the @The_HotList_95 and they are already upvoted to #32!”. This ranking number might be different, the mentioned username might be different, but the landing page will certainly be a fake Instagram page.

If you fall prey to it, you would not only let your username and password be stolen, but you will also put your followers in danger. As soon as you get hit by this phishing scam, your followers receive an automatic message from your account, which is exactly same as what you received. This is why we mentioned that you can receive this message from someone known as well. Watch out! It, then, starts multiplicating and reaches a lot of people like fire in a forest. Sounds horrible!

Let us now share what this profile looks like. When you open the link mentioned in the bio of this scam profile, you are directed to following looking pages.

What Should You Do If You’re Already Screwed?

If you’re already hacked by ‘The HotList’ or ‘The Nasty List’ or anything similar Instagram phishing scam, you need immediate help. Here is the list of things you need to do ASAP. We mean it, do it AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

• Check your linked Email Address and Contact Number. If this looks changed, change these to normal immediately.
• Change your Password. If your hacked password for Instagram is the same as what you use for other platforms, change it everywhere.
• Enable Two-Factor Authentification immediately after you’re done doing above action items.
• If scam messages have been sent to your followers, please inform them at the earliest on not opening it. Save them after you save yourself.

If you have done all these things, you should be safe for now. Be extra cautious next time you see something similar. Inform people about it through Insta Stories, so that they don’t fall prey to it. It’s your moral responsibility.