It was January 8, 2025. I was a full week and a day into the New Year. Like the rest of you, I was constantly proclaiming, “This is going to be my year!” but had no idea what would happen next.

So let me set the scene for you, it’s 9 p.m. on a Wednesday night and I am relaxing after my first full day of the spring semester. At 9:03 p.m. my identity was stolen via Instagram.

I get what you’re thinking, and no, I didn’t open a link, or fall for the “Is this you in this video?” scam. I didn’t really do anything. Some social media hijacker took my profile photo and name, created a new account and began following people.

This is a new form of scam that I have seen in our own city of Goshen. So, I quickly reported the account and posted on my own that it was not me. The account was taken down 10 minutes later.

I think the moment has come for me to disclose that I am in a brand-new relationship which is important as I follow his step-sister on Instagram. It is now 10 p.m. on a Wednesday, and the man I have been seeing calls me. His stepsister is absolutely hysterical. I, being completely out of the loop, am very confused.

The scammer had messaged his stepsister as me, saying, “Hey wyd, I hate to ask but I don’t know who else to … can I ask a favor?” Being the caring girl she is, she was hooked and invested.

The thing I don’t understand is, how could she not consider that unusual or suspicious? Especially because we always interact on a different social media platform. So, why would I make a new Instagram account simply to ask her that? There are so many questions, and so few answers.

Now here is where it gets good. The fraudster told her (pretending to be me) that something had happened to me — I was in the hospital. In reality, I was simply lying in bed relaxing. He proceeded to provide her a photo as ‘evidence’. As a side note, the photo looked nothing like me.

She responded by giving them her phone number and sending a $40 Visa gift card. This money was supposed to “help” me while in the hospital. If I was in her position, I would be furious that I lost my money. This was not the case for her. Since she had given out her phone number, she had been robbed of her Instagram account completely. This was the reason why she was crying hysterically during the phone call.

At 9:03 p.m., I had reported this account, and by 9:13 p.m., it had been removed from the platform. In less than ten minutes of using my name and face, they made $40 and had a fully intact Instagram account from which to continue their scam. An hour later, I received a call informing me of what happened and that the fraudster had been tracked back to Nigeria.

I hope she liked her belated birthday present from the fake me, for her not-so-sweet 16.