InstaAgent: Top Android and iPhone Instagram client was built to steal logins, post spam on users’ feeds

The app had been top of the charts in the UK and Canada before it was pulled from the stores

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said his company's nudity policy was based on App Store rules (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

An Instagram client that was at the top of the iPhone and Android app stores was secretly harvesting logins and posting photos without users knowing it.

InstaAgent claimed that it would allow people to see who had been viewing users’ Instagram accounts. In fact it appeared to be forcing people to log into Instagram, stealing their passwords and sending them off to an unknown server as well as using them to post spam onto feeds.

The app has now been removed from the Google Play Store and the App Store. But before it was it was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.

If users did download and use the app, the best course of action is to change the password, revoke access for the app on Instagram’s site and ensure that any other accounts that use the same login is changed too. It is a good idea to then watch for — and report or delete — any suspicious activity.

InstaAgent reached the top of the UK and Canadian App Stores. That probably meant that it had been downloaded over 500,000 times, according to the developer who first found the problems.

Scams often offer the opportunity to see who has viewed profiles on specific sites, since most major social networks don’t offer the option. But it is not usually possible for such apps to work, since the same social networks don’t share that data with third-party apps either.

There are still many apps with similar names — such as “Who’s Viewed My Profile” — available on the App Store.

Instagram recommends against using any apps that offer features that break its terms of service, which also includes websites selling likes or promising free followers. Such apps are “likely an attempt to use your account in an inappropriate way”, Instagram warns.