Instagram targeted by scammers: fake copyright claims to extort creators

An increasing number of content creators on Instagram are falling victim to an extortion mechanism that exploits a weakness in the platform’s copyright management system: completely invented copyright infringement complaints filed against popular pages, which lead to the automatic suspension of the account even before any verification.

At that point, the authors of the claims step in, contacting the victims on Telegram offering to withdraw the report in exchange for a payment. Here’s everything that emerged thanks to a substantial report by the BBC.

Instagram, fake copyright claims: how the scam against creators works

The mechanism takes advantage of the fact that Instagram does not verify the authenticity of copyright claims at the moment they are filed: just a few close reports are enough to trigger a temporary suspension of the account, even when the published content is public domain images or used with the permission of the rightful rights holder.

Once struck, the victim receives a direct contact on Telegram from the person who filed the claim, with the request for a sum of money, usually in cryptocurrency, to obtain the withdrawal of the report. In some cases the payment is not enough to stop the phenomenon.

Olly’s testimony: dozens of false claims and a payment that solved nothing

Olly, who runs the page “Lost in Time History” with over 1.5 million followers dedicated to posting photos, videos and rare or forgotten historical moments, said he had received dozens of copyright claims that were “palesemente falsi” throughout 2026, often coming from the same email address and directed at multiple posts.

After being contacted on Telegram with a request for several hundred dollars, Olly chose to pay an amount in cryptocurrency as a “last resort”, considering Meta’s appeals process too slow, capable of taking weeks during which he would not have been able to publish content.

However, the payment did not solve the problem: new claims arrived immediately afterward, and the account was finally demonetized due to the number of reports accumulated.

Not only Olly: other creators report Meta support’s slowness

Abin Tom Sebastian, behind the page “Morbid Kuriosity”, also recounted a similar experience, describing Meta’s support as hardly helpful throughout the process and stressing how quick assistance is effectively tied to the paid Verified subscription.

According to Sebastian, the incident reportedly cost him significant advertising deals, later awarded to other creators, with no reassurance from Meta that the event would not repeat itself.

Why the phenomenon is on the rise: the role of artificial intelligence

Fake copyright claim scams are not new: the practice dates back to the early days of the internet, when it appeared as emails or letters asserting rights to photographs published online, asking for money to avoid legal action. A similar mechanism has previously affected YouTube users as well.

According to Andres Guadamuz, a professor of digital intellectual property at the University of Sussex, the recent rise in the phenomenon would be linked to the possibility of automating the process at scale via artificial intelligence, effectively making it an activity within reach of almost anyone.

Guadamuz highlights how the copyright-claims management system was built on the assumption that those filing a copyright complaint do so in good faith, an approach that makes it harder for platforms with billions of users to distinguish real requests from fraudulent ones.

Meta and Instagram’s stance

A Meta spokesperson said that the company’s systems are designed to protect users from this kind of abuse from the outset, adding that after a review of reported cases, the involved content was restored. Additional protections were also applied to affected accounts to prevent further attempts.

In short, the picture being painted is far from the reality, with creators reporting a slow and cumbersome system (with dire consequences for targeted accounts).