Police call for people to be alert after new social media scam appears

Police on Tuesday called on people to be alert after receiving complaints from people that they are being asked to hand over social media passwords, especially on Instagram.

According to the police, they have received complaints from members of the public that unknown people have gained access to their account and send messages to their followers urging them to invest in various cryptocurrencies by following a link.

Unsuspecting recipients, thinking the message was sent by an acquaintance or friend, follow the link filling in access details to social media accounts or banks so the perpetrators can extract money, police said.

Police also called on people to enable two-factor security settings.

Anyone receiving such a message should contact the person they think it is from to confirm if it is genuine.

Anyone noticing anything suspicious should change their passwords, the police said.