‘Are you willing to pay for it?’ Woman fights to regain control of her hijacked Instagram account

A social media user is going public alleging a person has attempted to extort money from her via her hacked Instagram account.

Laurie McDonald is a freelance make-up artist who uses Instagram to display her work but said she lost control of her page when it was hijacked by a hacker a month ago.

“He’s hacked my account, he’s stolen it and he’s holding it for ransom,” McDonald said. “I leave him a message, he likes it and I leave him a nasty message and then it disappears. All of a sudden I’m blocked, I can’t access it anymore.”

She said her original photos, followers and even her company’s website is still available on the page, but said other content is being posted without her consent.

For the last couple of weeks, Laurie said friends and family have also been pleading with the person who took over her account.

She shared some of the conversations with CityNews, including one from the alleged hacker reading in part, “ are you willing to pay for it?” and “I just want to give yours back because it’s not useful to me.” She said they were asking for money in exchange for her page back.

“I’m being extorted…’ he says, bless up, $500,’ ” she said. ”This is my life’s work, please give you’ve got to give it back to me.”

Instagram advises victims of blackmail to not exchange money, rather report it to the social media site and contact local law enforcement. Laurie recently moved out of Toronto but reported the incident to Lindsey Police, but has yet to hear back from either. She adds that she will soon also reach out to Toronto Police since she lived here at the time of the incident.

CityNews reached out to Instagram on Friday, though no specific details were provided about Laurie’s claims, a spokesperson sent a statement saying there’s more that can be done to prevent these incidents.

“We know that losing access to your account can be a distressing experience. We have sophisticated measures in place to stop bad actors in their tracks before they gain access to accounts, as well as measures to help people recover their accounts,” the statement said. “We know we can do more here, and we’re working hard in both of these areas to stop bad actors before they cause harm, and to keep our community safe.”

Instagram suggests the following to help keep accounts secure:

• Pick a strong password. Use a combination of at least six numbers, letters, and punctuation marks (like ! and &). It should be different from other passwords you use elsewhere on the internet.
• Change your password regularly, especially if you see a message from Instagram asking you to do so. During automated security checks, Instagram sometimes recovers login information that was stolen from other sites. If Instagram detects that your password may have been stolen, changing your password on Instagram and other sites helps to keep your account secure and prevent you from being hacked in the future.
• Never give your password to someone you don’t know and trust.
• Turn on two-factor authentication for additional account security.
• Make sure your email account is secure. Anyone who can read your email can probably also access your Instagram account. Change the passwords for all of your email accounts and make sure that no two are the same.
• Log out of Instagram when you use a computer or phone you share with other people. Don’t check the “Remember Me” box when logging in from a public computer, as this will keep you logged in even after you close the browser window.
• Think before you authorize any third-party app.