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Explainer | How to stay safe online as fraudsters target Hong Kong users of Instagram, other popular social media platforms
- Fraudsters recently hacked 27 Instagram accounts in a week, cheating people out of nearly HK$200,000
- Post examines the latest trends and ways to guard against online scammers
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Hong Kong users of popular social media platform Instagram became the latest target of online scams earlier this month. Fraudsters hacked 27 accounts in a week, cheating people on contact lists out of nearly HK$200,000.
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With online scams continuing to plague internet users, both individuals and enterprises, the Post examines the latest trends and ways to guard against these traps.
1. How have scammers targeted Instagram users?
In a wave of Instagram hacks in early May, scammers gained access to accounts and posed as users, sending messages to friends and contacts to ask for urgent financial help.
According to police, the biggest loss in a single case amounted to HK$30,000.
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Francis Fong Po-kiu, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, said hackers were likely to have gained access to the accounts through the email addresses individuals had used to register with Instagram.
“Once they had hacked the email address, they could use it to reset the account’s password,” Fong said.
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