How scammers target Instagram giveaways with fake accounts

Scammers are targeting giveaways on Instagram by impersonating competition organisers, leaving users and small business owners struggling against a rising tide of fake accounts. 

Businesses and individuals who use Instagram to organise giveaways will often ask their followers to comment on a particular post to be entered into the draw to win a prize. 

But fraudsters are targeting these legitimate competitions by impersonating the accounts running them. After setting up a lookalike page, they will then message individual users, telling them they have won the contest, before proceeding to ask for details including credit card and banking information. 

Although fake accounts are sometimes removed once reported to Instagram, users say new copycats are popping up all the time. Both organisers and entrants of competitions have told iMoney that the scourge of copycat…