Scam Alert -- Instagram: The New Outlet for Scammers

[Better Business Bureau]

New Social Media, Same Old Scam Accounts November 22, 2013 It was only a matter of time before scammers started taking advantage of Instagram, the photo sharing smartphone app. Instagram is so new that many legitimate business don't yet have an account, and scammers are more than happy to fill their absence.  How the Scam Works: An Instagram scam, from Fodors.com You are on Instagram, and you spot an account from an established business. The business is trying to get more followers by giving away a prize.    You've seen this on Facebook before, so you follow the account. The weird thing is that the reward seems way too good to be true. In the example at left, the "Delta" account is offering free round trip tickets for 50,000 people.    Soon after following the "business," you start getting messages asking you to click on a suspicious link or share personal information. Don't do it! The account is a scam.   This scam has numerous forms and spans many industries. Scammers have impersonated everything from airlines to big-box retailers to luxury fashion brands. With many businesses not yet on Instagram, it's easier for scammers to claim to be the real deal.     Tips to Spot an Instagram Scam:   It can be tough to tell a real account from a fraud, so here are some tips:       The account contains words like "Giveways" or "Free" in its name: The real business may already own its name on Instagram, so scammers will create a fake account supposedly dedicated to giveaways or freebies.    Be wary of shortened URLs: Many scam accounts will disguise a website by using a URL shortening service, such as bit.ly. Real organizations use these too, so verify the account before clicking a shortened link.   The account has no photos or uses only stock photos. Instagram is for sharing photos, so not having any real photos is a big giveaway.   They promise something for free: This is another area where real businesses and scams can overlap. Be wary if the reward for following seems too good to be true. A real business may offer you a chance to win a prize, but scammers will offer that same prize to 1,000 followers.  They ask for your password: No legitimate company will ask for your Instagram password. If you do give it out, be sure to change it ASAP.  Contact the business: When in doubt, call the business's customer support line to check the legitimacy of the offer/account.  For More Information    For instructions on how to flag an Instagram account as spam, please see their instructions here.     For more information about scams, see BBB's Scam Stopper.   This Scam Alert has been sponsored by Western Union.

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[Whelan Pereira]

  Thanks for sharing this alert! It’s a great reminder of how quickly scammers adapt to new social media platforms. It's so easy for people to fall for these traps when they see a post promising a free flight or gift card. I always tell my friends to be incredibly careful before they click random links or download anything from an unverified account. These tips are super helpful to keep in mind!  

[Whelan Pereira]

Thanks for sharing those resources, Peter! I completely agree that the shift toward standards like Collada and URDF has made integrating these models significantly easier than it used to be.

While V-REP and the toolboxes mentioned are definitely the right path for robust robotic simulation, I often find myself needing to do quick sanity checks on the raw .OBJ or .STL files before doing the heavy lifting. For instance, I sometimes just drag the meshes into Paint 3D for a really fast visual inspection or to do lightweight scaling before I bother importing them into my main ROS pipeline. It's surprisingly handy for a quick look to ensure the CAD export didn't break anything.

Good luck with the V-REP class-based interface prototype!