Yep, my instagram account got hacked last week…thank-you to everyone who reached out to let me know ❤️
The funny thing it was actually a nice break to not have to think about managing it, and that is with an assistant who helps!
I often think, as coaches, how did we become social content creators? I love the connection it provides with other people, and it can definitely be a great business tool, but I don’t love the pressure of having to create “great” content. And this is why I leverage the other things I’m already doing that I love to do as much as possible…
But back to the hack…which was all my fault.
I got a text through “instagram” months ago saying I qualified for their blue tick verification…you know when people have a check mark next to their profile photo? That means they have been verified…this was reserved for people in the range of 100k+ followers in the past and mostly celebrities.
It came in through the way texts usually do through instagram, when they send you a verification code, etc. So I thought it was legit.
But then it seemed odd when they asked me to turn off my two-factor authentication. Warning bells went off and I thought it was a hacker. When I asked about it, it wasn’t really addressed and so I decided to leave it.
The blue tick thingy sounded like a good idea though, and so I applied officially through instagram. A couple of months passed by and then the same thing above happened again and so I thought, “oh maybe this is legit since I had actually applied this time”, and I proceeded to turn off the two-factor authentication.
I talked myself into it when I knew it wasn’t right deep down because it “logically” made sense.
Within minutes, I was kicked out of my account, my password and email both changed.
And the hack began.
Thankfully instagram has back up measures – they emailed to make sure it was me – and then my amazing assistant figured out how to have them send a code to my WhatsApp account.
All the while the hackers, were texting and also whatsapping me pretending to be Instagram and asking for the code!
So sneaky!
I’m sharing this because; when we don’t trust our gut instincts it always comes back to bite us in the butt and for two other reason…
My biggest concern was that a client had left confidential voice notes in my DM’s. She was sharing vulnerable insights she had gained while going through my course that went back to childhood. Highly personal and confidential.
Thankfully the hackers seemed more concerned about using my account to direct people to their sales funnel.
It’s a good check-in for all of us…where and how are we sharing our confidential information? We might fully trust the person we’re sharing with, but what if something happens to their account? Or what if they aren’t so trustworthy and share it with someone else? We’re always telling our kids that even when their messages and photos can disappear on certain apps like snapchat, someone can screen shot whatever it is thus making it permanent.
The same applies to us. Make sure whatever you’re sharing you’re okay with it becoming public. Or find a different way to share that you can trust.
This also brings up the awareness of assets. Our social media accounts can go down at anytime and we may not be able to recover them. This is why having a database is going to be your biggest asset in your business. Make sure to be building that in conjunction with social. Plus you’ll likely find that the people joining your database are the people who are the most interested in the teachings and sharings your business provides. They have taken additional action to opt-in, making them already more qualified as someone who is interested and can benefit from your products and services.