Scam of Instagram verification sales

Have you ever taken some time to read some of the comments made under a post by your favourite influencer and saw messages left by people offering services such as ‘Get your Instagram account verified’?

They are scams, even if the accounts leaving those messages are verified accounts promising that they are an agency and, as a such, they have access to a ‘media partner’ panel to instantly verify Instagram accounts with no need for documents, nor passwords.

Save your time and money because, if you want a blue tick shining on your Instagram account to give you credibility, these services aren’t the ones that will make your dream come true.

How they do it:

The ‘real’ account: scammers hack into genuinely certified accounts (with the blue tick), steal their passwords and change the ‘handle’. There are hundreds of thousands of accounts that were genuinely certified by Instagram when it first began, over a decade ago, and lots of them are not in use, so hackers take advantage of those ‘ghost’ good accounts.

The outreach: there are paid ads on Google and posts on Instagram itself, but the preferred method for scammers to sell their fake verification service is to DM accounts with 10k+ followers, as well as using the comments section of big accounts (300k+) to lure people to their Instagram accounts for more details.

The payment: the available method to pay for the verification, which you will ultimately never receive, is through wire transfer services which don’t offer a money refund guarantee such as Zelle, Chase and Bitcoin, to name a few. Payment is expected in full and in advance. Don’t even try.

What to do:

If approached by someone trying to sell an Instagram Verification Service, report the account. It is likely Instagram will take months to do something, but eventually they delete accounts breaching its Terms and Conditions.

How to get verified:

It is free for those ones whom qualify – and simply non-existent for the rest of accounts which Instagram doesn’t feel deserving of being verified. It isn’t just beautiful content that makes you eligible, sorry to burst your bubble.

However, if you think your account qualifies to be verified, here is how to request that:

1. Make sure you’re logged in to the account you’re requesting a verified badge for.
2. Go to your profile and tap .
3. Tap Settings > Account > Request Verification.
4. Enter your full name and provide the required form of identification (example: government-issued photo ID).

As Instagram acknowledges, within its terms and conditions for verification requests, even if your account is eligible for verification, submitting a request doesn’t guarantee that your account will be verified.

So, keep in mind that, with over 1 billion monthly active users around the globe, you are more likely to be hit by a meteor than getting a positive response from Instagram. Good luck!