Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms around at the moment with millions of users across the world. This also makes it a prime target for hackers to prey on unsuspecting users out of the blue.

In this article, we’re talking about whether or not your Instagram account can be hacked through your DMs, how it works and what you can do to protect yourself.

Getting hacked from Instagram DMs

You’re not inherently at risk from your Instagram DMs per se, only the suspicious links or redirects that these messages might carry. Opening a chat, viewing a message or even replying on the platform are relatively safe options. However, any links you might receive can very well be used to phish your account credentials or deploy malware on your device.

Generally, if you’re receiving shady DMs, it’s best to ignore them and block and report the profile to Instagram. Since Instagram DMs themselves are protected by the company, simply seeing or replying to messages isn’t inherently a risk as long as you’re not giving away any sensitive information over DMs.

Also read: How to clear cache on Instagram? What happens when you clear the cache?

How to protect yourself?

Here are three things you should do.

Do not click on suspicious links

As mentioned before, you’re not at risk by just opening a message. However, if you receive a message with a suspicious-looking link (URL shortened or wrong domain), refrain from opening such links on your device as they can likely steal your information or deploy malware on your device.

Report suspicious profiles

Reporting suspicious profiles to Instagram ensure you protect yourself and others on the platform further. Instagram investigates every report and if the reported profile is found to have violated its policies, it’s removed from the platform, making it a bit safer for everyone.

Enable multi-factor authentication

Enabling multi-factor authentication allows you to add another layer of security on top of your password so even if you do get hacked, the attacker needs to work hardware to get the OTP to access your account. Here’s how to enable MFA on Instagram.