It’s an email we all dread seeing in our inbox. Maybe it’s from Spotify, maybe it’s from Facebook. And while the subject line can read almost anything, it’s the implication that sends chills down our spine: someone’s been trying to mess with our account. Going back months and months now, Instagram users have been on the receiving end of pretty damn sus-looking “we’ve made it easy to get back on Instagram” emails, dangling some eyebrow-raising password-reset links before us. Why are you getting these, and what do they mean?
Well, the good news, and the part you should really try to focus on here, is that none of this is a sign that your account’s already been compromised. While we haven’t seen an official response to this trend, it’s likely we’re looking at automated efforts from bots to access accounts en masse. And the fact that you’re seeing this email just means that they weren’t able to get in.
Unless you just forgot your password, this is not what you want to be seeing.
The subject line of these emails arguably makes some poor assumptions about the circumstances that prompted the response, and combined with the prominent reset link, that could reasonably be cause for concern. So how do you even know this is a legit communication from Instagram?
What you want to do is go into your account settings and check out the Emails from Instagram section. There you’ll see a log of all the recent (legitimate) messages Instagram’s sent your way.
If you’re feeling extra paranoid — sure, go ahead and update your password. But the important takeaways here are that a whole lot of Instagram users have been seeing the same thing, you’re not being individually targeted, and it’s quick and easy to verify that these messages actually came from Instagram itself.
Now stop worrying and get back to over-sharing your life!
Free+
Post a Comment