Within minutes, she was back in her account. "And I saw a link from Instagram themselves allowing me to change my password,'' she said. RELATED: Expert believes Capital One hack is one of largest data breaches ever
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Instagram sent a secret code to that email, which she typed in. We found a way - creating a secret email known only to Lee and 7 On Your Side. "I was told to create a separate email account which nobody knew except ABC7," Lee said. Lee and Esna-Ashri gave up on getting help from Instagram. Until they go on the dark side of the web they don't know." "When you post your information and photos it's a very serious thing. "All these kids and their parents think it's a platform for entertainment but it's so much more," she said. She said many as young as in kindergarten have their own Instagram accounts. After all, the account was still registered to her, and friends thought she was in control. "It was terrifying," Lee said, watching and wondering what the hackers might do in her name. "I had no idea what they were going to do with it." "It was just there for a long time, existing in space," Lee said. "They were following three thousand people, mainly girls," Esna-Ashri said. Lee and Esna-Ashri were locked out so they couldn't see what the bad guys were doing to their accounts - but friends who still followed them could see. RELATED: Instagram users falling for hoax about platform changing its privacy policy "But we do know that the Russian government's propaganda arm did try to disrupt the 2016 presidential election using stolen Instagram accounts and fake Instagram accounts that they created." "We should be careful about assigning blame to specific countries because hackers do anything to cover their tracks and make it look like they're from a particular place," Constine said. And yes, they're used to influence elections. Hackers sell the accounts buyers use them to spread spam or propaganda, or maybe use them to try to squeeze money from their owners. "That's partially why there's been increased interest from hackers for stealing existing, well-used, legitimate-seeming accounts instead of starting new ones." "Facebook deletes billions of fake accounts each year across its services," Constine said. So Facebook, which owns Instagram, won't delete it as being "fake." "And so it's a crown jewel for hackers to steal." Constine says your Instagram account may be highly valuable on the black market, even if it only has cute animals and foodie photos. "Instagram is the king of social media," TechCrunch editor Josh Constine said. And like many others, Esna-Ashri and Lee wondered: why theirs?
Social media sites are teeming with reports like theirs - hackers, many seemingly in Russia, stealing ordinary Instagram accounts. "I asked them if they could help me and they said this is a private facility, a private building and you can't come in," Esna-Ashri said.
She got so frustrated she marched down to the Instagram building in Menlo Park and knocked on the door. "I sent email after email, nobody responded," Esna-Ashri said. "It was clear it was a robot just giving automated responses," Lee said. Just a tab on the site to report a problem. There was no phone number, no customer service. "Like human trafficking or taking the pictures, finding me here."īoth tried to contact Instagram to get their accounts back. "It was a scary feeling because I was imagining a bunch of things they might be doing,'' Esna-Ashri said. "I worried about what they might be doing, sending messages in my name, using pictures." Her voice trailed off. "Panic, just panic, and I want to do something to fix it," Lee said. RELATED: FBI investigating Facebook hack as company reveals new information And they said Instagram ignored their pleas for help.
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The hacker had changed the email and password associated with their accounts, so they were powerless to get back in to claim them back. They could tell by the "RU" country code in the email address. But both found their accounts suddenly hijacked by someone somewhere, and linked to an email based in Russia. Likewise, Lee posted only whimsical photos of food and friends. Esna-Ashri, a fashion student at the Academy of Art University, had posted only ordinary pictures of her designs, her friends, her classes. "I don't know what they wanted with my account,'' she said.īoth seemed like unlikely targets for a hacker.
The same thing happened to San Francisco first-grade teacher Jamie Lee. She awoke one day to find she couldn't log into her Instagram. "So, a Russian hacked my Instagram," college student Sofia Esna-Ashri explained how it all began.