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Popular social media platform Instagram has issued a statement after users reported receiving unexpected password reset emails, fueling concerns over a possible cyberattack.
The incident, which occurred over several hours on Sunday, January 11, triggered worry among account holders who feared their profiles had been compromised.
The company acknowledged the issue following mounting complaints on social media platforms, particularly X and Instagram, where screenshots of repeated reset notifications circulated widely.
In a brief response, Instagram sought to calm fears, stating that the problem was technical in nature and not the result of unauthorized access to its systems.
“We fixed an issue that let an external party request password reset emails for some people. There was no breach of our systems and your Instagram accounts are secure. You can ignore those emails, sorry for any confusion,” Instagram said.
Users React with Confusion and Frustration Spill Online
Despite the reassurance, the explanation did little to ease frustration among affected users, many of whom felt the company was slow to respond.
A portion of the users described the experience as alarming, particularly given the volume of emails received overnight.
“Me waking up to 47 password reset emails thinking I was being hacked by a mastermind, but it was just an Instagram bug,” said Instagram user Gianluca Bruno, capturing the mix of panic and disbelief shared by many.
Others used the moment to air longstanding grievances with the platform, especially around account moderation and customer support.
“When are you all going to focus on the real issue, and that’s giving people thats been wrongfully disabled their accounts back, you all lawyers spoke with me months so saying they’d review my account yet still no word or update,” wrote user jhaylucci.
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Calls for Transparency and Breach Allegations
Some cybersecurity commentators rejected Instagram’s explanation outright, arguing that the incident may point to deeper structural weaknesses.
“This was due to the data breach (by web scrapers). Please reveal the entire issue. Transparency is required. As Meta won’t be transparent, I have written an analysis about the Instagram data breach, which tells what Instagram (Meta) hides,” said The CyberSec Guru.
Instagram has not publicly addressed claims of data scraping linked to the incident, maintaining that there was no compromise of internal systems.
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What Is Instagram?
Instagram is a worldwide social media platform focused on photo and video sharing.
It was introduced in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and was purchased by Facebook, now Meta Platforms in 2012.
Today, Instagram operates as one of Meta’s core products alongside Facebook and WhatsApp.
As of 2025, Instagram is estimated to have more than 2 billion monthly active users globally, making it one of the largest social networking services worldwide.
The platform allows users to follow accounts, share content through posts, Stories, Reels, and live streams, and interact through likes, comments, and direct messages.
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Owner of Meta Services Mark Zuckerberg. PHOTO/ File