If you’ve been on Instagram today you might have seen an abnormal amount of fruit. The reason for this influx of produce is a fruit-themed spam attack that is traveling around the social media site, according to PCMag.com.
It is unknown how the spammers are getting access to user accounts and exactly how many users have been hacked. According to PCMag, at around 3:30 pm EST the hyperlink that accompanied the spam had been clicked more than 35,000 times. The link leads to a false BBC webpage that is advertising for a weight-loss coffee.
One of the descriptions included on a photo was, “"Ever seen this stuff? I guess its super healthy, im giving it a try. I saw it on Dr Oz's show! Link is in my bio #lovemyfollowers #health."
Om Malik of GigaOM was the first to report the spam attacks. According to his site, there has been no concrete reason as to why the attackers included a fake BBC link. It could be that the hackers are attempting to get credit card or other personal information from those who get fooled and try to buy the coffee.
According to GigaOm, Facebook—which owns the photo-sharing service Instagram—released a statement concerning the hacking:
Earlier today a small portion of our users experienced a spam incident where unwanted photos were posted from their accounts. Our security and spam team quickly took actions to secure the accounts involved, and the posted photos are being deleted.
Although Facebook has offered this statement neither Facebook nor Instagram have released information as to how the attacks were achieved.
