Instlike was free for download on the Google Play Store and Apple iTunes Store. More than 100,000 users downloaded it and shared their credentials with the app which included their Instagram username and password. Little did they know that they were becoming the victims of cyber forgery and that their passwords would be stored by the app to use in the future.
The scam was detected by a computer security company Symantec which then warned Google and Apple to ban the app from their app stores. But the damage was already done. The app had already liked and followed many accounts and pictures. The scam resulted into a pool of likes appearing on random posts. Anybody who had “#instlike_com” as a part of the description of pictures would get 20 extra likes.
Today smartphones users are quite aware about such frauds. Nobody shares their password easily. But Instlike with its sophisticated appearance convinced thousands of users to share their username and password with it. “People didn’t realize that they were being duped into giving their login credentials to this app,” said Satnam Narang, Security Researcher at Symantec.
The app has though been removed from major app stores but the website is still operational and is still continuing its work of posting on others behalf. Change your passwords if you ever downloaded the app and shared your credentials with it.
via SocialAppsHQ Blog http://www.socialappshq.com/blog/2013/11/13/the-instagram-scam/
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