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A Married At First Sight star launched a GoFundMe for support after his Instagram account got hacked, saying his entire livelihood ‘depends on his verified Instagram account’.
Nick Furphy featured in season four of Married At First Sight Australia, where he was paired with Sharon Marsh.
He’s since gone on to forge a career as an online influencer – until his Instagram account was hacked recently, that is.
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Furphy went on to set up a GoFundMe campaign, titled ‘Help Nick Furphy get his Instagram account back’, with the fundraiser’s description explaining he can’t ‘make a living’ while locked out of his account, which boasted more than 70,000 followers.
It has since been removed from the website.
“Help a reality star in need as he fights to get his Instagram account back from the clutches of evil hackers!!” it said.
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“This poor guy's entire livelihood and happiness depends on his verified Instagram account.
“Without it, Nick can't make a living, go to events, or even pick up chicks! (Okay, maybe that last one isn't so important, but you get the idea).”
Among the donations was $5 from someone called Jessika Power - the same name as his ex, who appeared on the 2019 season of the show.
In total, Furphy was asking for $3,633 – supposedly the amount he needed to pay a company that restores hacked accounts.
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Of course, the safer, more advised approach if you're worried your Instagram account has been hacked is to follow the app’s guidelines.
“If you think your account has been hacked or taken over, there are several actions that you may be able to take via the website or the app to secure your account,” the Instagram Help Centre says.
“If someone gains access to your account or you're unable to log in, visit this page on your desktop or mobile browser to secure your account.”
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It also advises trying a number of recovery steps – some of which ‘may not be available to you depending on the type of account that you're trying to recover’.
“If you received an email from [email protected] letting you know that your email address was changed, you may be able to undo this change by selecting 'Secure my account' in that message,” it suggests.
“If additional information was also changed (e.g. your password), and you're unable to change your email address back, request a login link or security code from Instagram.”
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Other tips include requesting a login link from Instagram, requesting a security code or support from Instagram and verifying your identity.
Instagram said there are a number of things you can do to ‘help keep your account secure’, such as changing your password or sending yourself a password reset email, turning on two-factor authentication, confirming your phone number and email address in account settings are correct, checking the Accounts Centre and removing any linked accounts you don’t recognise and revoking access to ‘any suspicious third-party apps’.
Topics: Married At First Sight Australia, Married At First Sight, Celebrity, Instagram
Jess Hardiman