Promoted Rogue Content, a new threat on Instagram
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 4:15 am
In 2019, e-commerce will become consolidated as a sales channel as important as physical distribution or retail. It is no secret that this is a powerful and growing medium, as today merchants decide to expand their sales through this channel, to reach their potential customers, overcoming barriers such as distance, time and travel. In this boom, Instagram and its Sponsored Content form a very essential part, as the trend of this social network is on the rise, being the preferred one by the new generations, and the one that generates the most interactions among millennials and generation Z, which are users under 35 years old .
Cybercriminals, therefore, see an opportunity to take advantage and capture a highly sought-after audience due to its high level of consumption, its attention to new product launches and its interest in personalized offers. This is where Instagram starts to play a very important role, since 60% of its users constantly discover new products through this social network, and at least 30% buy a product that they see for the first time there.
Instagram has seen its biggest growth in recent years, with ecuador whatsapp data over 1 billion monthly active users now on the rise, and all indications are that it will continue to grow. Both companies that advertise on this social network, and its users, must be prepared for the appearance of unauthorized advertisements that seek to impersonate brands and deceive users.
Cybercriminals also do marketing
There is no doubt that a large part of the budget of the e-commerce and marketing departments of different business groups and brands is allocated to offering products and services, as well as organizing contests and promotions. These departments usually include in their annual plans the use of the Instagram promoted ads channel because it allows segmentation by interest, target audience and geographic location, in addition to having an interest in the type and volume of target users.
However, loss-tailors and brands will not be the only ones to benefit from this trend: hackers and sellers of counterfeit goods on the Internet will also devote a large part of their considerable economic income to advertising within the social network itself. With this, a new threat appears called: Promoted Rogue Content, ads that aim to promote and position replicas, fake profiles that clone official profiles of major brands, blogs, and also redirect to rogue sites.
Rogue sites difficult to identify
The proliferation of Promoted Rogue Content on Instagram directly affects the reputation of brands online. Every day, thousands of loyal customers and followers interact with content created exclusively for
promote the sale of counterfeit products through a rogue site , which is a website designed following the look & feel of a famous brand, and which is of course created for impersonation purposes.
To reach these sites, cybercriminals first create fake profiles that use a brand as a profile image, which allows their owners to obtain a greater number of followers thanks to the parasitism of the reputation and image of the brand. It also allows the owner of the profile to obtain a large number of followers in a short period of time.
Cybercriminals, therefore, see an opportunity to take advantage and capture a highly sought-after audience due to its high level of consumption, its attention to new product launches and its interest in personalized offers. This is where Instagram starts to play a very important role, since 60% of its users constantly discover new products through this social network, and at least 30% buy a product that they see for the first time there.
Instagram has seen its biggest growth in recent years, with ecuador whatsapp data over 1 billion monthly active users now on the rise, and all indications are that it will continue to grow. Both companies that advertise on this social network, and its users, must be prepared for the appearance of unauthorized advertisements that seek to impersonate brands and deceive users.
Cybercriminals also do marketing
There is no doubt that a large part of the budget of the e-commerce and marketing departments of different business groups and brands is allocated to offering products and services, as well as organizing contests and promotions. These departments usually include in their annual plans the use of the Instagram promoted ads channel because it allows segmentation by interest, target audience and geographic location, in addition to having an interest in the type and volume of target users.
However, loss-tailors and brands will not be the only ones to benefit from this trend: hackers and sellers of counterfeit goods on the Internet will also devote a large part of their considerable economic income to advertising within the social network itself. With this, a new threat appears called: Promoted Rogue Content, ads that aim to promote and position replicas, fake profiles that clone official profiles of major brands, blogs, and also redirect to rogue sites.
Rogue sites difficult to identify
The proliferation of Promoted Rogue Content on Instagram directly affects the reputation of brands online. Every day, thousands of loyal customers and followers interact with content created exclusively for
promote the sale of counterfeit products through a rogue site , which is a website designed following the look & feel of a famous brand, and which is of course created for impersonation purposes.
To reach these sites, cybercriminals first create fake profiles that use a brand as a profile image, which allows their owners to obtain a greater number of followers thanks to the parasitism of the reputation and image of the brand. It also allows the owner of the profile to obtain a large number of followers in a short period of time.