Received a Strange Email from Instagram? Don’t Worry, Your Account is Safe!

This weekend, a significant number of Instagram users received an email instructing them to reset their passwords following a suspicious login attempt. The social media platform later confirmed the security breach but assured that no accounts had been compromised.

One common piece of advice for identifying phishing attempts is to always check the sender’s email address. If it doesn’t look like an official address, it’s better to be cautious. However, what happens when the suspicious email actually comes from an official address? This was the tricky situation faced by many Instagram users over the weekend.

Across social media, numerous posts and screenshots surfaced, all concerned about the same email: a message directly from Instagram, warning about a login attempt on the user’s account and urging them to change their password for protection. Concurrently, the cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes issued a warning on Bluesky, stating that a group of hackers had stolen the personal data of 17.5 million Instagram users.

Cybercriminals stole the sensitive information of 17.5 million Instagram accounts, including usernames, physical addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and more.

This data is available for sale on the dark web and can be abused by cybercriminals.

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— Malwarebytes (@malwarebytes.com) January 9, 2026, at 17:34

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No, Your Instagram Account Hasn’t Been Hacked

The situation was enough to cause panic, especially among those who had clicked on the link and changed their passwords. Fortunately, it appears that the worst was avoided. On January 11th, Instagram addressed the issue on X (formerly Twitter) to reassure users. “We’ve resolved an issue that allowed an external actor to send reset password emails to some users,” the company stated.

“There has been no breach of our systems and your Instagram accounts are secure.” Thus, no accounts or passwords were stolen, although Instagram did not specify what the flaw was or who had accessed it. It was a close call, but another good reminder to always remain vigilant and critical when prompted to change your password.

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 (@instagram) January 11, 2026