The owner of Aesthete coffee shop in Sheffield has has lost access to her near decade old Instagram account after receiving a fake email.
Alexa Exarcopoulos, 31, who owns the coffee shop Aesthete in Walkely and Crosspool, received an email that claimed she didn’t have the license to use a song in one of her Instagram reels, and had a link to appeal.
Ms Exarcopoulos said: “The guidance I found suggested simply deleting the reel, but when I tried to log back onto Instagram, I was locked out. Within minutes, all of my account had been suspended.
“I then received both a WhatsApp message and an email from individuals claiming they had taken control of my account and demanding payment to restore access.”
The hackers demanded $600 from Ms Exarcopoulos, claiming “We have no problem with you, it’s just about the money.”
Ms Exarcopoulos refused to pay, as there was no clear way to guarantee that she would be able to recover the account after Instagram had already suspended it.
Instead, she has created a new account – though her follower count is currently at 410, far from the original milestone.
Social media has been a vital part in Ms Exarcopoulos’s business, and is the main way her customers place bespoke orders, so having to restart has been especially difficult.
She said: “Initially, I felt intense frustration, but that quickly turned into genuine heartbreak. Over the past nine years, I had built a portfolio of more than 2,000 posts showcasing my photography and our business offerings. It represented years of dedication and hard work – as social media often is when you try to do everything yourself!”
Her new account is @aesthete.sheffield. She said she is grateful for the support shown, and is determined to rebuild.
Ms Exarcopoulos believes other business owners should be aware of the danger, as these emails can look incredibly realistic, and are designed to spark anxiety in the receiver.
Prior to clicking any links, even genuine seeming ones, it’s best to closely check the senders email address and pay attention to any discrepancies. The Instagram anti-phishing advice states that official emails sent by them can be viewed in the apps settings, and that they will be sent only from these email addresses:
@support.facebook.com
@support.instagram.com
@facebookmail.com
@mail.instagram.com
@global.metamail.com