How not to get Scammed on Instagram by debbietiyan
Some of us have been there –well, I have, and I can straight up tell you, it hurts like a whip to lose money to unscrupulous dealers. For those who haven’t, I have grouped three stages post scam which victims can definitely relate to.
First is self-denial.
In this stage, you make up all sorts of excuses for your scammers- their lines aren’t going through because it might be jammed from too many customers calling in; they no longer update their pages because their PRs are on holiday.
Second is Acceptance, you accept you’ve been a fool, and your hard-earned money is gone.
Final Acceptance and Long Term Regret
Third last longest, it is regret, suddenly you have over a hundred ideas of what the money would have been used for. Worse, everything seems to remind you of the problems the lost money would have solved.
In this post, I have compiled the most commons methods employed by the scammers. And every IG user should watch out for them.
P.S Each time you log in to Instagram, have the old adage in mind, “if it seems too good to be true. It probably isn’t.”
Channels Infiltrated by IG Scammers
- Free giveaways, especially from those new brands who claim to be building awareness.
- Flip cash – uh huh.
- IG Stores – what sucks here is there are tearing apart the bridge for even legit entrepreneurs.
Here are the red flags you should watch out for when dealing with “businesses,”
- Recent accounts, with large followers (3000) and little to no customer engagement.
If this is much as the engagement on the brand’s comment section:
Individual account: How much?
Scammer Brand: DM for price.
It’s a scam.
2. Big talk, no show
If they claim to be big brands operating in electronics or whatever, but have a meagre following, say 3000, to 5000 and claim the reason for their recent operation or follower count to be recently hacked, or if they warn their pages might be down to upgrade, or maintenance by their (laughs) developers. They are scammers.
3. Limited Comment
If the comments section is limited, it might be they have blocked further comments due to recent fraudulent activities, and don’t want the victims trolling their pages.
4. No offline Location
If you want to buy online, but prefer to pick up the product due to proximity and they refuse pick-up even after months of “successful” business operations. It’s a scam.
5. Weird Alert Notifications during giveaways
If they announce giveaways and post weird account notifications of other recipients, it’s planned. It’s a scam.
6. Requesting Delivery Fee
If they tell you won a product but ask (or suggest) you to pay for delivery free, don’t do it.
7. Unrealistic Locations
If they sell high-end products such as iPhones, and claim to be in locations far from Nigeria’s main cities, Port-Harcourt, Lagos or Abuja. It’s a scam.
8. 100% Return on Investment
Guys, there’s no such thing as free money. Flip cash aka. MMM reloaded is a scam. Don’t even do it!
