BREAKING: Instagram unmasked the real identities of account stealers & hackers on a private forum, shared info with Twitter & TikTok, and then threatened to sue these people. This type of off-platform action from Facebook is unprecedented as far as I knowhttps://t.co/u8I6XAIQPQ

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) February 4, 2021

Updated: spoke to one of the OGUsers implicated in Instagram's action. Said they're speaking to their lawyer this afternoon after Instagram unmasked them and sent a legal threat https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/6rSotokps1

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

Instagram took down 100s of valuable accounts that were hacked in an attempt to resell. They also sent a cease-and-desist letter to the hacking group, which they saw using increasingly violent and exploitative tactics like SWATting to get what they wanted https://t.co/jW9TGRaZh5

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) February 4, 2021

To get a sense of the $$ involved in selling hijacked social media accounts, just 2 BTC accounts used by 1 of the many brokers targeted by Instagram today processed 243 bitcoins, or ~ $8.5M. The middleman/broker's take would be worth ~$425,000 now. https://t.co/qsrNpJ6tvF pic.twitter.com/lULEHyuF9E

— briankrebs (@briankrebs) February 4, 2021

New: in a bold move, Instagram says it says unmasked a number of members of the OGUsers community—who hack, SIM swap, extort to get high value usernames—and has sent them legal letters demanding they stop. Also disabled their accounts. Twitter + TikTok too https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

Watched in real-time about 45 minutes ago Instagram accounts of OGUsers members go offline. Here are some of the impacted ones, screenshots taken beforehand https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/vdNEbva1Nw

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

Instagram has identified and deleted the accounts of prominent accounts stealers, most of them part of the infamous OGUsers community. The company has also sent them cease and desist letters. https://t.co/MFUJQ4baT9

— Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai (he/him) (@lorenzofb) February 4, 2021

It is highly unusual for social media companies to publicly announce that it has identified the real names of pseudonymous users and to announce publicly that it has sent them legal threats, especially when it comes to this sort of crime/activityhttps://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/1vXFtoMHpF

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

NEW: Instagram bans hundreds of accounts tied to hacking of OG usernames https://t.co/nPtH5fC4BJ

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) February 4, 2021

The cease and desists that Instagram sent to members of the OGUsers community tell them to stop using their platforms; provide information on who else is involved in the activity; and threatens more actions if the person ignores the cease and desist https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/uQIk32GfsZ

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

Twitter and TikTok said they also enforced on a number of accounts; Twitter said after working with Facebook https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/kIwmiFFLCP

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

1/2: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter just took coordinated action to seize 100s of accounts they say were involved in selling/brokering trade in hacked accounts on their platforms. The action targeted top members of account hijacking forum OGUsers https://t.co/qsrNpJ6tvF

— briankrebs (@briankrebs) February 4, 2021

It's highly unusual for a social media company to publicly announce that it has identified the real names of pseudonymous users and to announce publicly that it has sent them legal threats. https://t.co/9cyejS8NTK

— Motherboard (@motherboard) February 4, 2021

We've been covering OGUsers since around 2018. The people who steal usernames have moved onto stealing vast quantities of bitcoin through SIM swapping, and more recently used sextortion (access email/cloud storage, use compromising images to blackmail) https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/OlUw1Vn2ob

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

NEW: Instagram bans hundreds of accounts tied to hacking of OG usernames https://t.co/nPtH5fC4BJ

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) February 4, 2021

Thank you @nytimes @TaylorLorenz for talking with me about the social engineering tactics used in these cases. I appreciate that Taylor did a deep dive into the societal reasons behind the increase in this social engineering activity during COVID-19 ??https://t.co/5m4gEvgzM8 pic.twitter.com/CM37oxTB0N

— Rachel Tobac (@RachelTobac) February 4, 2021

Instagram works to tackle stolen account problem. https://t.co/SlmwvTkXPW

— Christina Garnett ? (@ThatChristinaG) February 4, 2021

"Facebook, TikTok and Twitter coordinated to banish hundreds of accounts on Thursday allegedly linked to OGUsers, a marketplace for hacked usernames that can fetch tens of thousands of dollars," @timstarks writes. https://t.co/VwtBi9yyLF

— Sean Lyngaas (@snlyngaas) February 4, 2021

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok take coordinated action against the OGUsers community for stealing high-profile social accounts.https://t.co/d7f4RpyK5e

— BleepingComputer (@BleepinComputer) February 4, 2021

Instagram is taking aggressive action against members of the so-called OGUsers community, which hack, extort, and scam their way to controlling high profile, and high value, usernames. https://t.co/2QU6CiMaUR

— VICE (@VICE) February 4, 2021

Instagram confirmed that it has unmasked the real identities of scammers involved in the trade of usernames. It is highly unusual for social media companies to announce that it has identified the real names of pseudonymous users.

scoop from @josephfcoxhttps://t.co/njydGX7Oc6

— Lauren Kaori Gurley (@LaurenKGurley) February 4, 2021

Instagram disables hundreds of accounts tied to hacking of 'OG' usernames https://t.co/uLmcQ9z00s

— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) February 4, 2021

Instagram cracks down on the sale of OG usernames https://t.co/pzlUrh6iIW

— o...k (@kateconger) February 4, 2021

Thanks @lilyhnewman @WIRED for chatting with me about this — take a look at your password reset flows, if simply owning a phone number allows someone to reset the password & bypass security measures, that perpetuates the value of sim swapping for attackers.https://t.co/dYiXLA9W7Z pic.twitter.com/AKyY2DxBlX

— Rachel Tobac (@RachelTobac) February 4, 2021

Instagram, Twitter, and others are getting more aggressive and public about trying to address OGUsers-related account takeovers https://t.co/ALptGEjVq2

— Lily Hay Newman (@lilyhnewman) February 4, 2021

Instagram Bans Hundreds of Accounts With Stolen User Names https://t.co/Q02LgNi41N #tech #technology #blockchain #innovation #science #IT #BigData #Security #cybersecurity #crypto #cloud #IOT #computer #CISO #infosec #infosecurity #hacker #engineering

— nTangled Cloud (@nTangledCloud) February 5, 2021

Catching up on @TaylorLorenz's stories and am absolutely entranced by the high cybercrimes of elite Instagram usernames (which can be sold for as much as $40k)https://t.co/DK9FoUNNy3

— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) February 5, 2021

Instagram is coordinating with Twitter and TikTok to ban users who have been involved in stealing hundreds of rare “O.G. user names” https://t.co/874Ww5TCLT

— Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) February 4, 2021

'Instagram discovered that stolen account names were obtained through hacking, extortion, blackmail and harassment — and then could be sold for as much as $40,000. Such manipulation has gone largely unchecked for years.'https://t.co/pqeNKmiW09

— Rob Rand Wants Justice for the Menendez Brothers (@MenendezRand) February 4, 2021

Updated with some of the fallout from the OGUsers forum https://t.co/yEj6HKG9cn pic.twitter.com/zzggkBdyCm

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) February 4, 2021

“A lot of these cybercriminals don’t realize, you can make this money legitimately in the security industry,” she says. “You can make bank! And you don't have to be paranoid about the feds banging down your door.” ~@RachelTobac https://t.co/BxU10KaPFF

— ᘔ3ᖇ0TᖇᑌᔕT?? (@z3r0trust) February 5, 2021