Keith Duffy warns Instagram users after daughter Mia's account hacked in scam

Keith Duffy with his daughter Mia. He said: "Mia is very private and this has really upset her and caused a lot of stress and anxiety." Picture: Keith Duffy/PA

Keith Duffy has warned his followers of a scam currently running on Instagram after his daughter Mia had her account hacked.

The former Boyzone star told his 164,000 followers that his daughter Mia's account had been hacked. The post, marked 'urgent', warned anyone who received a message from Mia's account that scammers had accessed the account and are sending messages pretending to be her.

Along with the warning, Duffy posted a picture of what appears to be an account belonging to Mia. It shows an account that has a balance of €10,507.41.

Duffy did not indicate what the message from the scammers says or if it is asking for personal details from users. He asked anyone who received the fraudulent messages to report them and ignore the contents of the message.

The situation has had a negative impact on Mia, her father revealed. "Mia is very private and this has really upset her and caused a lot of stress and anxiety," he said.

Mia, 23, was diagnosed with autism when she was 18 months old. She graduated from DCU last year with an Honours degree in Enterprise Computing.

Her father shared their joy in an online post saying he and his wife were the "proudest parents in the world". "To all who have followed our story for over 20 years, today marks the biggest milestone ever," he wrote.

In the comments underneath the post warning of the scam, many people sent well-wishes to Mia while a number of people confirmed they had received messages from Mia's Instagram account. Other users said that they had been victims of similar hacking incidents in recent weeks.

"This happened to my niece, the scammer tried to blackmail her by asking for money to get her account back, she obviously didn't do it and had to set up a new account. 10 years of memories gone," one person wrote.

Help if your account is hacked

Any Instagram user who gets a suspicious message should report it to Instagram. The social media company has warned that some messages will claim that your account will be banned or deleted if the directions given are not followed.

This is not a message that Instagram sends to users and any requests for login or personal information should be ignored. It is also important to never click on any links in a message that you suspect might be a scam.

If you believe your own account has been hacked, there is a form to fill out that is available on the Instagram help centre page.

If you think you have received a strange email or message, you can report this to [e-mail].