The Instagram account of Ananth Padmanabhan, the CEO of HarperCollins India, was hacked on Thursday, March 2. As per Ananth’s tweet on Friday, a hacker from Nigeria hacked his account. The publisher urged his followers to ignore messages and report if they received one.
ALERT
— Ananth Padmanabhan (@jilpanz) March 3, 2023
My Instagram account @JILPANZ was hacked last evening by an account from Nigeria. Please ignore direct messages and do immediately report when you receive one.
I have reported the hack to @Meta and @instagram and am hoping they help restore the account soon.
Ananth Padmanabhan is one of the most active publishers on social media and enjoys a substantial following on Twitter and Instagram. He seemed to have learnt about the incident several hours later. In his tweet, Harper’s boss informed that he had alerted Meta and Instagram, and hoped they resolved the issue.
Thankfully, Ananth updated on Monday that he had got his Instagram handle back. He thanked the “very kind folks” at Meta. Additionally, he also thanked journalist Anindita Ghose, the author of The Illuminated, who seemingly helped Ananth recover his account. Ananth also expressed his shock and disappointment at the incident and said it was a disconcerting experience for him.
Thanks to @aninditaghose and the very kind folks at @Meta and @instagram I’ve got my Instagram handle @Jilpanz back! It’s not earth shattering news – but it’s disconcerting when someone messes with what is yours! All is well with the world now 😇
— Ananth Padmanabhan (@jilpanz) March 6, 2023
Incidents of Instagram Hacks On the Rise
There’s been a considerable rise in the incidents of celebrity Instagram accounts getting hacked in the post-COVID world. In July 2020, cybercriminals hacked the Instagram accounts of biggies like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Kim Kardashian as part of a Bitcoin scam. Likewise, actress Chloe Grace Moretz also became a victim when a hacker captured her Instagram account to post racist comments in February 2021. Last year, hip-hop star Nicki Minhaj’s Instagram was also hacked, and hackers used it to promote fake giveaways and ponzi crypto schemes.
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