I'm getting hundreds of bot account follows per day on Instagram. Should I be concerned, and what should I do?

Don’t be concerned. Bot follows are annoying but harmless as long as you follow two rules: (1) Don’t follow them back, and (2) Don’t click on any links they send. Bots can’t hack you just by following you—they’d need you to click a malicious link or give them access. As long as you have two-factor authentication enabled and you’re cautious about links, you’re safe. In fact, the follower boost can help your social proof, so there’s a small benefit. Just ignore the obvious bots (zero posts, created yesterday, generic usernames) and only follow back people you genuinely want to engage with, like friends or real supporters. If a bot DMs you, delete and ignore. There’s no way to stop bots from following you, so simply don’t engage.

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Asked by an artist experiencing bot follows · Answered by Millie and Juan · Office Hours · 2026-05-05