The social media network Instagram uses badges in Live feeds to allow people to effectively donate to an account but also as a means of verifying that an account is genuine.

To get a verification badge for your Instagram profile, simply got to your profile and select settings and request verification.

You have to supply copies of valid ID documents and your account can gain the verification mark.

The advantage of being verified by Instagram is really for celebrities and others who believe that other people may pretend to be them on Instagram.

However, scammers send out mass emails offering verification and this is a phishing scam.

If you click the link in the scam email it goes to a fake website pretending to be Instagram and they want you to key in personal information such as full name, date of birth, ID documentation etc.

That is so they can steal from you using that information or sell the information to identity thieves.

Some but not all of these scam emails come from @security.com which is not Instagram.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.