instagram help someone using my email 7 July 2020 at 12:55AM in Techie Stuff 10 replies 241 views

MenInBlack

Hi all,

So I was logging out of my 2nd instagram account from my old phone and I thought I would remove my username so I would have to type it in next time. I was surprised to see an instagram account that is not mine, however it had my exact email address and I was suddenly in someone else's instagram account without even logging in. My gmail account is linked with both my phones and maybe that's how I have this strangers instagram account.

I checked my instagram and I was using a different email. This person was using the same name as me and is living in a different country. I checked my email account can saw emails for this persons instagram account dating back to 2019. Also when I accessed his account I received an email to say this happened. I have managed to delete this account as I am concerned about the safety of my gmail account. I noticed that the password reset option was only through facebook whereas on my instagram account the password reset option is through email. So is it possible for this person to open an instagram account using my gmail address but through facebook so it bypasses the email address?

As far as I am aware my email does not appear to have been hacked and I have not received any emails from instagram to say that an account has been created for my email address. The only emails I got was when this person had followers or any updates. I hope he cannot gain access to that account now that I have deleted it, however I did report the problem to instagram so I hope they do not somehow reinstate this account.

Apologise for the rant but I am panicking. Any help would be appreciated 

Many thanks 

DoaM

What's more probable is that this person in another country has the same name as you and created an account, but mis-typed their email and didn't notice. (As they had access via Facebook then it wasn't apparent to them). Their Gmail account is probably very close to yours.

rdr

DoaM said:

What's more probable is that this person in another country has the same name as you and created an account, but mis-typed their email and didn't notice. (As they had access via Facebook then it wasn't apparent to them). Their Gmail account is probably very close to yours.

This is a well known issue

debitcardmayhem

Very likely as @DoaM said , I recently got an appointment email from TalkTalk confirming "my" appointment , including "my" address, phone number, bank account as *********XXXX at sortcode XX-XX-XX , and "my" account number with TT. Actually the person was really [email protected] not [email protected] , I assume that they let predictive text get in the way. Not being interested in Identity Theft I rang the person and forwarded everything to him. TT still send me stuff for him and wanted me to tell them my details so they can remove my email address from his account. You can understand I was not playing their game and gave them short shrift , boy am I glad I left them 4 years ago.

dan958

I've never used Instagram, do they not require you to confirm your account via the email address?

Chino

MenInBlack said:

Apologise for the rant but I am panicking.

Though probably not as much as the person whose Instagram account you have deleted.

MenInBlack

Chino said:

MenInBlack said:

Apologise for the rant but I am panicking.

Though probably not as much as the person whose Instagram account you have deleted.

He could be a hacker for all I know. Normally you receive an email to say an account has been created which wasn't the case. Apparently Instagram do not sort this out as quickly and gmail aren't interested. In the meantime I haven't a clue if my privacy has been compromised 

MenInBlack

dan958 said:

I've never used Instagram, do they not require you to confirm your account via the email address?

That's exactly my point and what I'm worried about. My gmail account is linked to both my phones too.

HeyJude11

Change your password.

[Deleted User]

You need to change all of your passwords for accounts that might have been compromised 

PRAISETHESUN

To protect your gmail, change your passwords, using unique ones for every different service you use so if one gets compromised everything else doesn't. Set up 2FA for everything that supports it - most of all gmail since that is the hub that links everything else together. With that in place you can stop a very high percentage of unauthorised access attempts in their tracks. Gmail also lets you force sign out from all active sessions, so once you change your password, activate 2FA and force everyone out, no-one except for you should be able to get back in.

WRT to the Instagram account, it's possible it's an innocent mistyped email but it's also possibly something more malicious. For example I had some scammers signing my old email up for various services for a while last year. Either way, since it's registered to your email, it's technically under your control so I think you're best deleting the account as you have done. It won't be reinstated under your email address - just make sure if you get any requests down the line to reset passwords or to confirm your email address that you didn't ask for, that you ignore/delete them and don't accept them.