Despite Google’s best efforts to kill off its Google+ social network, it keeps coming back. Remnants of the social network could still be found in the Google Phone app — now something called the ‘GooglePlusBot’ has been spotted trying to access people’s Instagram accounts.
According to Android Police, several people received surprising emails from Instagram warning of a “new login to Instagram from GooglePlusBot on Linux.” Understandably, it’s scary to get an email warning of a login to your account, and even more so when that email says a Google robot did it.
However, the actual explanation is, thankfully, less scary. Android Police found a Reddit comment from ‘u/doggyben’ that details why people are getting these GooglePlusBot emails. Basically, if someone with an Android phone who uses Google’s Message app tries to reset their Instagram account using their phone number, Instagram texts a reset link to them.
When that link comes through, Messages attempts to create a link preview — one of those little bubbles that shows users a snippet of the linked content like pictures. Except, the process to generate the preview seems to use something called the ‘GooglePlusBot.’
With the Instagram reset link, GooglePlusBot accesses the page to generate a preview, identifies itself as the GooglePlusBot and shares its location (Mountain View, California). This unexpected connection from a new device in a different location triggers Instagram’s security, which results in the email warning about the GooglePlusBot connection.
Turning off link previews in Messages should stop the GooglePlusBot messages (head to the Settings menu > Automatic previews > Show only web link previews).
However, if you’re getting a bunch of these messages, it could be because someone is trying to access your Instagram account via your phone number. You could be caught in a SIM swap scam where someone gains access to your phone number and intercepts password reset texts to break into online accounts like Instagram.
It’s also worth noting that there are other, separate reports of Instagram sending out password reset links to some users that sound a lot like someone trying to access their account (my spouse got a few of these).
Ultimately, the GooglePlusBot alerts are harmless, if a bit annoying. Most people who get one probably don’t need to worry unless there’s evidence of something more nefarious going on. It also doesn’t mean that Google+ is making a return, although Google maybe should change the name of its bot.
Source: Reddit Via: Android Police
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