HOAX: Instagram is not resetting all accounts to 0

There’s a hoax going around Instagram that claims Instagram “will be resetting all accounts to 0 or diable accounts due to spam, bots & inactive accounts.” The hoax claims that Instagram needs to verify your account is active and asks you to publish a post with the hashtag #activeverify and follow a suspicious Instagram account.

Here’s an example of the post:

Dear Instagram users,

On September 10, 2019 we will be resetting all accounts to 0 or diable accounts due to spam, bots & inactive accounts. Follow @botsweep, Repost this post and tag @botswep with hashtag #activeverify. Wait for our Instagram team to verify your request and you will receive an In-app message upon verification.

The Instagram team

Although this post seems very suspicious many Instagram users have fallen for it and have been publishing this content across the social network. As shown in the image below, the #activeverify hashtag has been posted 12.7 times at the time of writing this article.

Just so we’re all clear, this is a hoax and the purpose of the hoax is to obtain active Instagram followers and potentially perform scams. The page that obtains Instagram followers may be used in association with various scams including advanced fee fraud. The page may also change its name and become something else entirely in the future.