Like many on social media, Bianca Havenga uses her Instagram for the occasional selfie and to share personal updates with her close friends — so she didn’t suspect anything when one of her co-workers seemingly messaged her, asking for help.
The messages, which included personal details about the account owner, came with a request. The co-worker apparently needed help to win an online competition.
But though the messages were coming from her co-worker’s account, it was a complete stranger on the other end. By the end of the night, Havenga had been locked out of her own account — and she hasn’t been able to access it since.
Havenga said she fell victim to the online scam about two weeks ago. The person who had taken over her co-worker’s account referenced their children and other personal details about them, leading Havenga to believe she was actually chatting with someone she knew.
“They sent me a link, but they said not to click on it — specifically, not to click on it. I don’t know why,” said Havenga.
“He told me just to screenshot and send it back to him.”
That’s exactly what she did, Havenga said. She didn’t realize something was wrong until one of her friends alerted her to an odd post that had appeared on her Instagram feed.
“They said, ‘Did you just post this? It doesn’t look like something you would post.’ When I went to go into my Instagram, I couldn’t get into it whatsoever,” Havenga said, adding she quickly made a new account.
“So…
