Warning, do not reply if you receive this image on Instagram: it is a scam

We know that every day cybercriminals invent new techniques to get hold of people’s data and personal information, the last scam we have known consists of a hacker pretending to be a friend and offering you a challenge with a monetary reward when he really agrees. It is a scam to get hold of your Instagram account.

Cyberattacks can come in all shapes and colors, so it’s important to be a little suspicious every time you surf the Internet. We are usually more vulnerable when we are on a page or app that we use every day, since we feel more confident in a well-known site.

Taking advantage of this, many cybercriminals decide to carry out scams from social networks, and the last one we have known is one from Instagram called the 6 Owls Scam. The most dangerous thing about this scam is that normally the message reaches you through the account of a friend of yours in the social network so it is very easy to trust and fall into the trap.

How the scam works

You will receive a message accompanied by an image with 6 owls where they will challenge you to find the error or difference and if you succeed you will receive 50 euros, although the amount may vary depending on the person. The solution is quite simple, since the goal of cybercriminals is for you to hit (The third owl from the top has a bigger beak than the rest).

When you have succeeded, and as shown by the captures uploaded by @PinkyBoyzthey will ask you to follow a series of steps to receive your reward. Basically they ask you to go to your Instagram account settings and go to the Account and Personal Information section.

Then they will ask you to enter an email account that they have given you, in the company verification section, so that after two minutes you can change the email to your own.

What happens now

If you do everything they have asked you, you will have lost access to your account and you will not be able to enter this, since without knowing it you have established that email that has been passed to you as the official one, so if you click “I have forgotten my password” the message to recover it will reach the cybercriminal and not you.

They really can’t do much with your Instagram account, i.e. they won’t get any money from it, however, the goal of the hackers is take over your account to continue spreading this scam and others.

As we had told you before, this scam is used to hijack a profile and attack the rest of the user’s contacts without raising suspicion.