Staying Safe and Secure on Instagram

We’re committed to fostering a safe and supportive community for everyone who uses Instagram. Today, as part of our ongoing work, we’re highlighting some of the latest features to empower people with information and help keep them safe.

In addition to using our automated systems to detect and remove malicious accounts that violate our Community Guidelines, we’re continuing to roll out new features to alert people of potentially suspicious activity so they can take steps to protect their accounts. This is particularly important because bad actors often don’t immediately use their accounts in malicious ways. We strive to raise awareness of potential attempts at impersonation, scams and other deceptive behaviors. That way, people can take action to prevent any issues before they even occur.

We began testing some early intervention tools at the end of 2022, which are now widely available on Instagram. As we continue to improve our detection and enforcement techniques, we also recognize that bad actors are constantly changing their tactics to evade detection. This means that no single tool can be a silver bullet, nor can a single company tackle industry-wide threats that target people with scams and spam across the internet. That’s why we’re continuing to work with our industry peers, innovate and share updates with our Instagram community.

Alerting of potential impersonation & scams

If an account that we suspect is impersonating an individual or business or is engaging in potentially scammy activities requests to follow you, we will show you a notice reminding you to be aware of potentially unwelcome or suspicious interactions.

Additionally, we’ll show you a warning if an account we suspect to be deceptive sends you a direct message (DM) so you can slow down and review it before accepting the message request.

Lastly, in addition to blocking known malicious links at scale across our apps, we take steps to alert people if a link appears to be suspicious. In these cases, if you tap on a link in someone’s profile bio that may be suspicious, we will show a pop-up warning to help you review and recognize potential scams prior to proceeding.

Strengthening your security settings

There are additional actions you can take to help ensure your account is secure by using the Security Checkup feature. It will guide you through specific steps including: setting a strong password, enabling two-factor authentication and updating account recovery contact information such as a phone number or email address. To complete Security Checkup, go to your Profile and tap the menu in the upper right corner, next tap “Settings”, “Accounts Center” “Password and Security” then scroll down and tap “Security Checkup.”

Strengthen your privacy settings

We will alert you if you get tagged or mentioned by an account you don’t follow with a reminder to review and update your safety and privacy settings. This checkup will guide you through the Reels remix settings, messaging settings, Sensitive Content Controls and Time Spent tools to ensure your account is set up the way you want.

Additional account support

If you encounter issues on Instagram, we encourage you to report an interaction, post or profile and follow along with that report in Support Requests. If you experience an issue accessing your account, you can visit instagram.com/hacked to help resolve it. Lastly, if you’ve signed up for Meta Verification, you can start a conversation with Instagram’s live chat support.

For more information on tools and tips for staying safe and secure on Instagram, please visit about.instagram.com/safety.