I just came across:
Spammers show they give a fig about Instagram, launch fruit-based attack
To wit:
“… Instagram went bananas Saturday.
A company representative confirmed in an e-mail today that the photo-sharing network had been hit by a spam attack — an attack, we might add, that was perhaps a bit more colorful than usual.
It seems the photo-sharing network became flooded with photos of fruit, which were accompanied by a link to a marketing page for a fruit-based diet regimen….” MORE
I will GUARANTEE I am not the first person who thought of….THIS.
Monty Python’s Self Defense against Fresh Fruit
🙂
Other reports about this include:
Gigamon Beware: a massive (fruity) spam attack is hitting Instagram
PC Mag Fruit-Themed Spam Hits Instagram
CBS Miami Reports: Fruit-Themed Hack Hits Instagram
However, Gizmodo took a far more serious look at the attempt and highlighted the dangers:
Gizmodo: Beware: Those Instagrams of Fruit Want to Hijack Your Account
A breath of fresh air, indeed. Eric Limer noted:
…Initially spotted by GigaOM, it’s a pretty straight-foward sort of spamttack. If you click on one of the dirty fruit-links, you’ll wind up on a fake BBC page, your account bio will change, and it will start sending out tainted fruit photos of its own.
To fight back, Instagram has already sent a password reset email out to a chunk of its users, and if you got one, it’s always a good idea to follow through. This will all sort itself out eventually, and it doesn’t seem like there’s any serious damage being done, but if you’re cruising the ‘grams, it might be best to put off today’s serving of fruit until tomorrow. [GigaOM via The Next Web]…
Funny, none of the other articles at the time of this writing focused their headsup on the dangers instead of the amusment aspect. Good job Eric!
Grow strong,
Barbara Ling
Get Started Here
You’ll love what you learn… Promise!