Why Does Instagram Follow Accounts for Me

In this article, we’ll tell you more about what’s happening to your account. And more importantly, we will help you to secure your account and prevent this from happening again.

• Your account might be compromised if you are suddenly following random accounts on Instagram.
• Third-party apps and websites are usually the culprits for such unusual activity on your account.
• Instagram would not purposely follow accounts for you. They will, however, suggest accounts for you to follow according to their relation to other accounts you currently follow.
• You can secure your account by changing your password, enabling two-factor authentication, and removing third-party apps connected to your account.

Despite the efforts of many social media platforms to keep the user’s accounts secure, there are still some instances when scammers and other suspicious apps break into a user’s account. Unfortunately, a handful of users have reported the same problem about following random accounts on Instagram.

If this has happened to you, it’s probably because your account has been compromised. This may be due to a third-party app connected to your Instagram account. You may have been hacked, and the hacker is manually following random accounts for you.

Remember that the social media platform will not follow random Instagram accounts without your knowledge. Instagram can only give similar account suggestions based on your current following.

Other Unusual Account Activity You Should Look Out For

Apart from automatically following random accounts, here are a couple of suspicious activities on your account that can tell you your account has been compromised:

• Having a weird photo uploaded that you did not post yourself.
• Sending messages to your followers that you did not write or send yourself.
• Not being able to login to your account.

How to Keep Your Instagram Account From Following Random Accounts

Let’s help you prevent this from happening again. Here are steps you can take to avoid following random accounts on Instagram.

Check Your Connected Apps

If a third-party app is causing the following random accounts, then you should remove them from your list of connected apps. Revoke access to any suspicious apps and websites linked to your account.

Here’s how you can check and remove connected apps on your Instagram account:

1. Step 1

   On the Instagram app, go to your profile page.

2. Step 2

   Tap on the hamburger button.

3. Step 3

   Click Settings (the one with the gear icon).

4. Step 4

   Open Security.

5. Step 5

   

   Tap on Apps and websites.

After doing so, these third-party apps will lose access to your account and information you’ve previously shared with them.

Change Your Password

Changing your Instagram password after suspicious activities from your account is wise. To do so, you can follow these steps on the Instagram website or app:

1. Step 1

   Go to your Instagram profile.

2. Step 2

   Open account settings.

3. Step 3

   Tap on Security.

4. Step 4

   Click on Password.

5. Step 5

   

   Enter your current password, then enter your new password twice.

Nowadays, it’s important to use a strong password. Hackers can easily access your account especially if you use a common password. Here are a few types of passwords you should avoid:

• Generic or default password.

  This includes passwords like “1234567890”, “qwerty” “mypassword”, “111111”.

• Including personal details.

  This includes using relatives’ birthdays and names in your password. You should also avoid including an address like a street name or house number in your password.

• Using the same password for different accounts.

  Using the same password for multiple accounts means that if a hacker has gained access to your IG account, they can easily enter your other accounts.

You can increase your password’s security by creating a password with more than 8 characters. It’s best to follow the usual password requirements like including an uppercase letter, a special character, and a number.

In addition, you should also change your passwords at least once a year. However, it’s better to change it more often. This will strengthen your login security. We know it’s difficult to remember and keep track of account passwords, so here are a couple of secure password management tools you can use:

• 1Password
• Bitwarden
• LastPass
• LogMeOnce
• Dashlane

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To prevent scammers, hackers, and suspicious apps and websites from gaining access to your account, you can enable two-factor authentication. By enabling this feature, Instagram will ask for another form of verification besides your password.

Follow these steps to enable two-factor authentication on your account:

1. Step 1

   Click on your profile icon to go to your profile page.

2. Step 2

   Click on the hamburger icon in the top right corner to open the app’s menu.

3. Step 3

   Click on Settings.

4. Step 4

   Go to Security.

5. Step 5

   

   Tap on Two-factor authentication.

You can choose to receive login codes via a text message, a WhatsApp message, or an authentication app like Google authenticator.

Instagram will also give you backup codes. These codes will help you to access your account if you ever lose your chosen security method for two-factor authentication. Store these codes properly and privately.

Optional: Switch to a Private Account

Other users may wish to stay public, especially if trying to build an online Instagram presence. But if you are managing a personal account, there are benefits to switching to a private account. So, what happens when you do choose to switch to a private account?

With a private account, only your approved followers can see your personal feed and Instagram stories. In addition, only the same people can like, comment, and reply to your posts and stories.

Open your Instagram app, and follow these steps to switch to a private account:

1. Step 1

   Go to your profile page.

2. Step 2

   On the upper right corner, click on the hamburger icon.

3. Step 3

   Open Settings.

4. Step 4

   Tap on Privacy.

5. Step 5

   

   Slide the toggle to turn on Private account.

Remember that securing your account should be your top priority. Now that you’ve done that, you should check your profile’s activity.

Begin by checking your posts. Remove posts that you know you didn’t post.

It’s also best to review your follower and following lists. This way, you can remove fake, suspicious, spam, and random followers.

Check your following list. Remove any accounts you’ve recently followed without knowing about them. You can also unfollow suspicious accounts and other random people on your following list.

Lastly, check your messages to ensure that your account did not send anything to your followers or any other Instagram users, for that matter.