I simplified my social life a few months ago by no longer posting on Instagram. I don’t even have Instagram on my phone any more.
But Instagram Meta-relative Facebook is “nice” enough to inform me when I receive Instagam messages, as well as unsolicited Instagram message requests. Which I obvously can’t read on my phone (in part because I also removed Meta for Business).
Joining the “brand ambassador” inner circle
So one day when I happened to be on my laptop, I brought up my Instagram account. I wanted to see the latest message request, reportedly from “Navin Nandra”…even though I already knew it was in a languge using the Cyrillic alphabet. And probably wouldn’t bring Bredemarkeet a ton of business.
So here’s what I had to do:
- Go from my phone to my laptop.
- Log in to Instagram.
- Find my message requests.
- Translate the message request that I received.
After translating, I was right in guessing that this was a waste of time. Here is how the message began:
“Good day! This is the brand manager for the clothing brand PRIME Wear
“I’m messaging you from a tech/alternative account—we use these to avoid getting blocked by Instagram Direct limits.
“We absolutely love your style and the content on your blog!
We would love to invite you to join our inner circle of PRIME brand ambassadors.”
Um, no. These “we love your style” messages are always amusing to me. Especially when account number one tells you to contact account number two. Because reasons.
Yeah, “ambassador.” My last name isn’t Jenner, and my look isn’t Jenner either.
The underlying scams
So I asked Google Gemini about the scam behind these amazing offers, because I suspected a scam. To please me, Google Gemini said that there are scams related to this. I could have fact-checked this on a live web page, but I had already wasted too much time on this.
Here’s one of Gemini’s reported scams:
You are told you have been “hand-picked” to represent the brand. They offer to send you jewelry, sunglasses, or clothing for “free” so you can take photos with it.
- The Catch: They give you a discount code that brings the item’s cost to $0, but you have to pay $10 to $15 for shipping.
- The Reality: The brand is usually a front for a dropshipping operation. They buy the items from bulk wholesale sites for less than $1. Your “shipping fee” actually covers the cost of the item and gives the scammer a profit.
- The Outcome: You paid full retail price (or more) for a low-quality, cheap item, while giving them free advertising.
Bad enough, but it could get a lot worse.
Some requests are much more malicious. A “talent scout” or “brand manager” will message you offering high-paying sponsorships ($500+ per post), even if you only have a few hundred followers.
- The Catch: To “set up the partnership” or “verify your account,” they send you a link to a portal or ask for your 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) code.
- The Reality: The link leads to a fake Instagram login page designed to harvest your password. If you give them a 2FA code, they will immediately change the email associated with your account, lock you out, and hold your account hostage or use it to scam your friends.
So “Navin Nandra” is now blocked. And I can avoid Instagram again for a while.
Bredemarket 