Social media platforms clamp down on accounts with stolen usernames

Instagram has taken down over 100 accounts which were hijacked and sold for their high value usernames allegedly by members of an online marketplace called OGUsers, according to Reuters report. Access to compromised social media accounts with coveted usernames owned by a celebrity, brand, or those with individual letters and numbers are believed to have sold for tens of thousands of dollars on these marketplaces.

“Today, we’re removing hundreds of accounts connected to members of the OGUsers forum. They harass, extort and cause harm to the Instagram community, and we will continue to do all we can to make it difficult for them to profit from Instagram usernames,” a Facebook spokesperson told Mint.

According to industry experts, the crackdown was a concerted between several social media platforms including TikTok, which has also been working on stopping the practice. As per a Wired report, the short form video platform recently reclaimed several usernames being used for account squatting or impersonation.