Log in alerts are such a useful feature. It’s eye-opening to see just how frequently people try to break into your accounts!
Alerts like these also drive home the importance of using two-factor authentication. I have that turned on everywhere. Seriously, you should too.
Screenshot of an email from Instagram that reads “Sorry to hear you’re having trouble logging into Instagram. We can help you get straight back into your account.” and then a button that says “Log in as ameelkhan”. Below that is text that reads “You can also reset your Instagram password”.
Instagram also offers an incredibly useful additional security feature: a list of emails they’ve sent you in the last 14 days.
Malicious actors can send fake log in alerts that are actually phishing emails. You can check this sent-email list in your account settings to verify if the email you’ve just received is real or not.
Screenshot from the Instagram website. The page’s title is ‘Emails from Instagram’. The text below this reads: “Security and login emails from Instagram in the last 14 days will appear here. You can use it to verify which emails are real and which are fake.” Below that is a list of emails, all with the subject “ameelkhan, we’ve made it easy to get back on Instagram”. Each item on this email list also has a timestamp so you can tell when it was sent.