Fake Instagram message about copyright infringement: how to recognize phishing and what to do

A Direct message saying your account violated copyright and will be deleted is almost certainly phishing. According to its help section, Instagram never sends direct messages about your account directly in the app. Don't click the link, don't fill in anything, and verify the message in the app settings, where you can see official emails from Instagram from the past 14 days.

What is phishing and why does it target Instagram accounts?

Phishing is a scam in which an attacker impersonates a trusted company or institution to trick you into revealing your password, verification code, or payment information. Instagram in its phishing help section describes it as an attempt to gain access to an account using a suspicious message or link that requests personal information.

Instagram accounts are interesting to scammers because they can be further abused: to send more scams to your followers, for extortion, for sale, or to promote fake investments. Content creators, small businesses, and e-shops that care about their profile and fear losing it are most often targeted. It is precisely this fear that messages about rule violations exploit.

What does a fake message about copyright infringement or account deactivation look like?

Fraudulent messages typically have the same structure: they claim you violated something, threaten loss of your account in a very short timeframe, and offer an "appeal" via a link. They differ only in the details.

Typical variants you may encounter:

• Copyright infringement: "Your post was reported for copyright infringement. If you don't fill in the appeal form within 24 hours, your account will be permanently deleted."
• Account deactivation: "Your account has been marked for deactivation due to violation of community guidelines. Verify your identity."
• Verification and blue badge: "Your account meets the criteria for a verification badge, confirm your details."
• Security alert: "We detected unusual login activity, secure your account here."
• Collaborations and giveaways: offer of paid collaboration or giveaway, for which you are supposed to "log in via Instagram" on a third-party page.

The link then leads to a page that resembles Instagram or Meta in appearance and asks for your password, often also a code from SMS or an authentication app. Once you enter it, the attacker logs in instead of you.

Does Instagram send notifications to direct messages?

No. Instagram Help about scams explicitly states that Instagram will never send you private messages about your account directly in the Instagram app (as of November 2026). Any message in Direct from "support," "copyright team," or "Meta Security" is therefore a scam, even if the profile has Meta's logo and sounds like a trustworthy name.

Instagram handles actual copyright infringement differently. According to Instagram Help on copyright the rights holder files a report through the official form and Instagram sends information about this report to the person whose content was removed. It never asks for your password in this process. If you are unsure whether a warning about a rules violation or account restriction actually exists, open the app yourself, not through a link from the message, and check your settings and notifications.

How can you recognize a phishing email?

You can identify a fraudulent email mainly by the sender's address, pressure to act quickly, and requests for your password or other sensitive information. A single sign is not enough; it is the combination of them that matters.

Warning signs

• Unofficial sender address. Instagram lists as genuine, for example, addresses from the domains facebookmail.com, fb.com, meta.com, account.meta.com, or metamail.com (as of November 2026). Addresses like "instagram-help@gmail.com" or domains with typos are a scam.
• Pressure and threats. Facebook Help on phishing lists among the signs urgent threats of account deletion and language that pushes you to click on a link.
• Request for password, code, or card number. Instagram recommends not responding to such messages and reporting them.
• Impersonal address and errors in Czech. NÚKIB warns about addresses without a name and poor Czech. However, a quality translation nowadays can be handled even by a scammer, so error-free text should not reassure you.
• The link leads somewhere other than stated. On a computer, hover over the link with your mouse and check the actual address; on mobile, long-press the link without opening it.

The displayed name is not enough

The sender's name that you see in your email inbox can be easily forged. NÚKIB in its recommendation on forged emails explains that the "From" field is exactly what an attacker changes in a forged message, and that the true origin is better revealed by the message header. Therefore, the most reliable verification is within the app itself.

How to verify a message in the app step by step?

The most reliable way is to verify the message independently of the link you received. Proceed as follows:

1. Do not click on the link in the message and do not reply to the message.
2. Open the Instagram app yourself, or type the address instagram.com manually into your browser.
3. In settings, look for a review of emails from Instagram. Instagram states that you can see official emails sent in the last 14 days there (as of November 2026; the exact name of the item may change with app updates).
4. If the email is not there, treat it as a scam. If it is there, follow the instructions directly in the app, not through the link from the email.
5. Forward a suspicious email to phish@instagram.com, report a fraudulent message in Direct or a fake profile in the app.

If you are still unsure, NÚKIB's advice applies: verify it through another channel and use common sense. A genuine platform will give you time for verification and will not ask for your password in a form.

What to do if you clicked on the link and entered your password?

Act immediately: change your password, log out unknown devices, and enable two-factor authentication. The sooner you do this, the less chance the attacker has to change your email and phone and lock you out.

1. Change your password on Instagram, if you can still log in. Instagram recommends a strong password that you do not use elsewhere.
2. Log out devices you do not recognize, in the overview of active logins in settings.
3. Change your password and your email password, that you have connected with your account, especially if it was the same. According to Instagram Help Center on securing your account access to the email usually also means access to the account.
4. Enable two-factor authentication. Instagram identifies it as the most effective step against hackers. You can find the procedure in the article two-factor authentication on Instagram.
5. Check connected applications and remove those you don't recognize.
6. If you can no longer log in, use the page instagram.com/hacked and the procedure from the article Hacked Instagram: how to recover your account.
7. Alert your followers through another channel that they may receive fraudulent messages from your account.

If you have also entered credit card information, contact your bank immediately. In the event of money loss or extortion, you can file a criminal complaint with the Czech Police.

How to prevent phishing?

The basis of prevention is having two-factor authentication enabled and the habit of never entering your password through a link in a message. These habits significantly reduce the risk:

• Use a unique password only for Instagram, ideally in a password manager. A password manager also won't fill in the password on a fake domain.
• Log in to Instagram only in the official app or by typing the address manually.
• Do not share login credentials with applications and services you do not trust, as Instagram also recommends.
• Do not tell anyone verification codes from SMS or the app, not even to an "acquaintance" who suddenly asks for them.
• Be cautious with accounts that impersonate large companies or institutions and do not have a verification badge; Instagram lists this as one of the warning signs.

The same rule applies outside of messages from "Instagram". Anyone who wants your account password, whether it's a promotion seller, an agency, or a "contest manager", does not have good intentions for your account. Why the password belongs to no one else is discussed in the article Buy followers without a password.

When paid promotion makes sense and when it does not?

Account security and promotion are only related in one point: no legitimate service needs your password. On sledujici.eu no password is required for ordering and the service is launched after payment. A package like followers on Instagram can help at most as initial social proof for a new profile with good content or as support for a specific campaign alongside your own work on content. It does not replace content, does not guarantee audience interest, sales or reach, and may worsen the ratio of interactions to the number of followers.

It makes no sense if the profile has no content, if you want to meet monetization or verification requirements, or if the account has already received a warning or restriction. Instagram Community Guidelines do not allow artificial acquisition of likes and followers, so restrictions on reach or the account cannot be ruled out; the same is also explicitly stated by terms and conditions in Art. 3.3. If you decide to try promotion after considering the risks, you can find current options in package price list.