{"id":3260,"date":"2013-08-22T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T14:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=3260"},"modified":"2013-08-22T10:00:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-22T14:00:58","slug":"scam-alert-do-not-click-on-that-instagram-for-pc-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/08\/22\/scam-alert-do-not-click-on-that-instagram-for-pc-ad\/","title":{"rendered":"Scam Alert: Do NOT click on that 'Instagram for PC' ad"},"content":{"rendered":"

An advertisement circulating on Facebook and Twitter for a desktop version of the photo-sharing application Instagram is a scam, according to security vendor Symantec.
\nInstagram, which is owned by Facebook, is only available for mobile devices. Its popularity, however, makes it attractive for spammers and scammers, wrote Satnam Narang, a security response manager with Symantec, on Tuesday.
\n\u201cBoth of the supposed versions of Instagram for PC do not deliver as promised,\u201d Narang wrote. \u201cThis is just another vehicle for the scammers to convince users to fill out surveys, so they earn money through shady affiliate programs.\u201d
\nLuckily, Narang wrote that \u201cthere was no malicious functionality bundled with the software, such as a keylogger or backdoor.\u201d Such ploys are typically wrapped up with malicious software.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instagram ScamInstagram is for mobile only.
\nThe scammers offer what is purportedly an emulator that allows Instagram to run on a desktop computer. Clicking on a link initiated two downloads, one of which is a large \u201c.rar\u201d compressed archive and the other a bundle of dynamic link library files, Narang wrote.
\nRunning the program launches a login screen. If a user logs in, an error message is displayed along with a dialog asking if the user wants to download another file that is supposedly needed.
\nThe program then implores people to \u201cclick a variety of social sharing options before trying the download again,\u201d Narang wrote. Finally, the user is lead to a survey.
\nAnother version of Instagram for PC asks the user to activate the program that then displays a pop-up window, which leads to another survey.
\nThe dodgy program has gained a bit of traction. Narang wrote more than 4,000 people have posted about the application on Twitter and Facebook. Another 2,000 have shared it on Google+.
\nvia Scam Alert: Do NOT click on that ‘Instagram for PC’ ad | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An advertisement circulating on Facebook and Twitter for a desktop version of the photo-sharing application Instagram is a scam, according […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[347,527,655],"class_list":["post-3260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-social-media","tag-facebook","tag-instagram","tag-malware"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-QA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8920,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/05\/17\/8920\/","url_meta":{"origin":3260,"position":0},"title":"Tech support scammers now utilizing ransomware-like lock screens to threaten people","author":"NCCT","date":"May 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Justin Luna | Neowin Some of us may be very well aware of the classic tech support scam stories, where a man randomly calls people, and informs them that they are from \"Windows company\" and that the call recipient's computer has been detected full of viruses. 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