Instagram Username Sniper/Bot?!

sean4064 · Jun 13, 2019

I think most people now know there are these Instagram snipers aka bots that snatch usernames as soon as the original owner changes them.

My question is how do you make such bot or get it?

Because it seems that MOST not all people who has cool names have generally got them via a bot of some sort or else have instagram plug. But the bot method is more likely.

rootjazz · Jun 13, 2019

are you sure they got them from bots and not have had them
a) a long time
b) got lucky when tried to change.

The only way to check if a username is available to hammer the endpoint, for a specific username that is going to be a hell of a low success rate.

Unless ISG announces somewhere when names are changed from (a) to (b) so you can have an algorithm to see if it is worth grabbing (a). But to my knowledge ISG does NOT do this

Kurt Sanches · Jun 13, 2019

sean4064 said:
I think most people now know there are these Instagram snipers aka bots that snatch usernames as soon as the original owner changes them.

My question is how do you make such bot or get it?

Because it seems that MOST not all people who has cool names have generally got them via a bot of some sort or else have instagram plug. But the bot method is more likely.

I guess you could try to use services such as knowem.com or namechk.com, etc. They could check usernames across different social media / platforms, when you registered, you can even parked or watch a certain names when it became available.

by the way, I don't think it will still work on instagram, I'm not 100% sure if they already rolled out a username protection for everyone in the June 2019 update, but some account even before the big update this month already had this feature being tested, it gives users 2 weeks to regain access to previous username upon changed. Once the grace period ends then it will become available for use to anyone else.

she40841 · Jun 13, 2019

Do people really change their names often when having OG names? This is so easy to make but I'm sure other also have bots.

Kurt Sanches · Jun 13, 2019

she40841 said:
Do people really change their names often when having OG names? This is so easy to make but I'm sure other also have bots.

There's no way a bot can snatch a username without getting into the account of the target. Sometimes they do it via instagram API, but i don't think the current API allows an app to change a users' username now. In my case, I have a pretty common name, and someone already have my desired username, I managed to hack he's fb, and login to instagram via facebook. I grabbed the username though.

she40841 · Jun 13, 2019

Kurt Sanches said:
There's no way a bot can snatch a username without getting into the account of the target. Sometimes they do it via instagram API, but i don't think the current API allows an app to change a users' username now. In my case, I have a pretty common name, and someone already have my desired username, I managed to hack he's fb, and login to instagram via facebook. I grabbed the username though.

You just need to have a checker for their profile that checks if the profile still exists and if not, try changing to username. The point is to yoink the username if someone tries to sell their OG name and take it before the other person can change to it.

Deleted member 1274522 · Jun 13, 2019

sean4064 said:
Because it seems that MOST not all people who has cool names have generally got them via a bot of some sort or else have instagram plug. But the bot method is more likely.

The "very OG" names and generic names you're talking about have all been claimed.
Not trademark claimed, but claimed by professionals in other forums. You can buy a claimed name (non-OG for ~2k$ and OG for 3k$+; methods are being sold for 10k$+). You can also buy already cracked / claimed / hold names in OG forums.

It's pretty rare that someone "snipes" an OG name with a bot, because most username transfer in a certain amount are done with 1ms-2ms traders (specific VPS near to IG locations with low ping "sniper"). So you probably won't get any highly generic names.

However, if you mean more usual names that some 1m+ follower accounts / or meme accounts in general who change their content every 2 weeks or so, they probably don't care enough for their name, hence snipeable.

But I wouldn't suggest you getting into this scene. It's not worth it

Kurt Sanches · Jun 13, 2019

AestheticHustler said:
The "very OG" names and generic names you're talking about have all been claimed.
Not trademark claimed, but claimed by professionals in other forums. You can buy a claimed name (non-OG for ~2k$ and OG for 3k$+; methods are being sold for 10k$+). You can also buy already cracked / claimed / hold names in OG forums.

It's pretty rare that someone "snipes" an OG name with a bot, because most username transfer in a certain amount are done with 1ms-2ms traders (specific VPS near to IG locations with low ping "sniper"). So you probably won't get any highly generic names.

However, if you mean more usual names that some 1m+ follower accounts / or meme accounts in general who change their content every 2 weeks or so, they probably don't care enough for their name, hence snipeable.

But I wouldn't suggest you getting into this scene. It's not worth it

I'm not sure exactly how the trading works, but the prices you mentioned are pretty much accurate based on what I've heard, I'm actually from the Philippines, and majority of the artists here have their accounts verified and entitled to have a vanity username. Years ago, the username @james is being auctioned by someone, though the profile looks inactive and dead, no posts, not even a profile photo, it just hold the username, so many people bid, they said even social media managers of Lebron James wants to get that username and willing to pay as much just to get it, the price reached around 200k PHP here in the philippines, around 4k USD and the bid goes on and on, until the account has been gone. Some hackers even try to hack the account, but it has been deactivated and wasn't able to reach around the radar for almost a month. Moments past, a lot of personalities around the globe wanted to have the vanity username. But it was claimed by James Reid, a filipino artist. I'm surprised, as lebron himself can probably pay based on his net worth, and James Reid here didn't even pay for it, but the management he is signed to, got it free for him, haha majority of the artists here, well known or even not as long as they are signed with a proper management got their profiles verified and have their vanity username, usually their first name, which also boosts their overall SEO performance when someone search for anyone having the same name.

I've talked to someone local here who is a guitarist in a filipino band(not so mainstream, their IG only have 30k followers) and all of them members of the band have been verified and have their vanity username even though they average from 900+ to 2.5k followers per member account. I'm in a band too(but an indie) so I was able to talked to this person, I've got 20k+ followers on my personal account, and wasn't been able to get verified, I claimed my vanity username in the hardest way possible. But he said, everything has been done for free by their record label. Damn, I'm really jealous. The band I belong don't have any record label yet, and we aren't signed up to any management and that is probably not going to happen as we all the members are all professional in different fields. But I'm pretty sure some people here in the entertainment industry have connection to facebook and instagram as they are able to do that kind of thing. The man who told me that is a friend, he doesn't have any wiki page or any publications, got 900+ followers, and didn't submit any documents such as IDs, everything has been done for free as part of their contract. Some people out there can claim any username they want.

Try to read this story, he's not been hacked, instagram gave his username to a football player. Spoiler, he regain it back though after his story became viral.
https://medium.com/@ainiesta/how-instagram-closed-my-account-and-gave-it-to-a-football-celebrity-625a6a770eb3

Deleted member 1274522 · Jun 15, 2019

Kurt Sanches said:
I'm not sure exactly how the trading works, but the prices you mentioned are pretty much accurate based on what I've heard, I'm actually from the Philippines, and majority of the artists here have their accounts verified and entitled to have a vanity username. Years ago, the username @james is being auctioned by someone, though the profile looks inactive and dead, no posts, not even a profile photo, it just hold the username, so many people bid, they said even social media managers of Lebron James wants to get that username and willing to pay as much just to get it, the price reached around 200k PHP here in the philippines, around 4k USD and the bid goes on and on, until the account has been gone. Some hackers even try to hack the account, but it has been deactivated and wasn't able to reach around the radar for almost a month. Moments past, a lot of personalities around the globe wanted to have the vanity username. But it was claimed by James Reid, a filipino artist. I'm surprised, as lebron himself can probably pay based on his net worth, and James Reid here didn't even pay for it, but the management he is signed to, got it free for him, haha majority of the artists here, well known or even not as long as they are signed with a proper management got their profiles verified and have their vanity username, usually their first name, which also boosts their overall SEO performance when someone search for anyone having the same name.

I've talked to someone local here who is a guitarist in a filipino band(not so mainstream, their IG only have 30k followers) and all of them members of the band have been verified and have their vanity username even though they average from 900+ to 2.5k followers per member account. I'm in a band too(but an indie) so I was able to talked to this person, I've got 20k+ followers on my personal account, and wasn't been able to get verified, I claimed my vanity username in the hardest way possible. But he said, everything has been done for free by their record label. Damn, I'm really jealous. The band I belong don't have any record label yet, and we aren't signed up to any management and that is probably not going to happen as we all the members are all professional in different fields. But I'm pretty sure some people here in the entertainment industry have connection to facebook and instagram as they are able to do that kind of thing. The man who told me that is a friend, he doesn't have any wiki page or any publications, got 900+ followers, and didn't submit any documents such as IDs, everything has been done for free as part of their contract. Some people out there can claim any username they want.

Try to read this story, he's not been hacked, instagram gave his username to a football player. Spoiler, he regain it back though after his story became viral.
https://medium.com/@ainiesta/how-in...-gave-it-to-a-football-celebrity-625a6a770eb3

If the @james is inactive, it can "easily" be claimed. I'm into the IG scene in general and was specific into the handle scene, hence I know the prices, best claimer, methods, etc.
It's not worth getting into there. You can pay someone who knows what he's doing, but don' try it yourself (you won't get a name without a decent method)

"But I'm pretty sure some people here in the entertainment industry have connection to facebook and instagram as they are able to do that kind of thing" -> You don't need a specific connection to get some OG names. For example, once you spent a considerably high amount on FB ads you will get a "panel" with a private assistant where you can ask for a verification, merging of two pages, claiming of a name, etc. (I knew a guy who sold his inactive stats page to a big star (his page he sold was followed by many extremely popular celebrities as well), the management of said celebrity just merged the accounts and got +100k in one day)
I know some claimer (no, they don't use trademark claims) who can basically claim any name, even if active. So happened to a guy I know, he had a stats account (someone even bid 10k for the name) and suddenly it has been claimed from one day to the other. He posted actively pictures every week or so, was a completely legit account

Anyway, it's not a problem to claim an username or to verify yourself, you just need to pay. If you got a label who pays for you, that's of course great

Actually haven't heard from the story yet, skimmed through, seems like a normal merge with username claim (as the followers went to the "claimed profile" if I saw correctly)

Kurt Sanches · Jun 15, 2019

AestheticHustler said:
If the @james is inactive, it can "easily" be claimed. I'm into the IG scene in general and was specific into the handle scene, hence I know the prices, best claimer, methods, etc.
It's not worth getting into there. You can pay someone who knows what he's doing, but don' try it yourself (you won't get a name without a decent method)

"But I'm pretty sure some people here in the entertainment industry have connection to facebook and instagram as they are able to do that kind of thing" -> You don't need a specific connection to get some OG names. For example, once you spent a considerably high amount on FB ads you will get a "panel" with a private assistant where you can ask for a verification, merging of two pages, claiming of a name, etc. (I knew a guy who sold his inactive stats page to a big star (his page he sold was followed by many extremely popular celebrities as well), the management of said celebrity just merged the accounts and got +100k in one day)
I know some claimer (no, they don't use trademark claims) who can basically claim any name, even if active. So happened to a guy I know, he had a stats account (someone even bid 10k for the name) and suddenly it has been claimed from one day to the other. He posted actively pictures every week or so, was a completely legit account
Anyway, it's not a problem to claim an username or to verify yourself, you just need to pay. If you got a label who pays for you, that's of course great

Actually haven't heard from the story yet, skimmed through, seems like a normal merge with username claim (as the followers went to the "claimed profile" if I saw correctly)

It's actually cheaper to register a trademark then file a dispute after, however it's hard to trademark common words or generic common names, plus trademark registration could take so long to process, some can take years before being approved, it doesn't also guarantee a 100% chance of claim. Having connections will help, someone I know confirm this to me, we are not really close though, we are just able to talk somehow on several events, she used to work on a television network before, and they got contact on facebook office, she claimed username that she wants, verified her instagram account, (trishamacas) she isn't a public figure or anything famous, got 900+ followers, just a regular employee, not any special, plus she was able to do the same on her fb profile, not page, a profile, she wasn't able to verified her twitter though, obviously twitter requires a different insider contact, but having a facebook insider allows her to do that to both fb and IG, what so unfair about it is majority of her friends, even oldies who rarely use social media have been verified. I asked her if she could hook me up for verification, or would like to collab with me to offer services to other users but she keep silent about it. Some people there even verified their dog's and other pet's profile, and some accounts having a cartoon pics. They don't know anything about social media automation and how others are desperate on whatever access they have, they are using it on something not so worthy. If you check out her fb profile you can see a lot of people that i was talking who got that blue crown.

HustleTong · Jun 15, 2019

This tweak is being used to snatch usernames that brands might be interested in. And finally, end up paying for the name.

Deleted member 1274522 · Jun 15, 2019

Kurt Sanches said:
It's actually cheaper to register a trademark then file a dispute after, however it's hard to trademark common words or generic common names, plus trademark registration could take so long to process, some can take years before being approved, it doesn't also guarantee a 100% chance of claim. Having connections will help, someone I know confirm this to me, we are not really close though, we are just able to talk somehow on several events, she used to work on a television network before, and they got contact on facebook office, she claimed username that she wants, verified her instagram account, (trishamacas) she isn't a public figure or anything famous, got 900+ followers, just a regular employee, not any special, plus she was able to do the same on her fb profile, not page, a profile, she wasn't able to verified her twitter though, obviously twitter requires a different insider contact, but having a facebook insider allows her to do that to both fb and IG, what so unfair about it is majority of her friends, even oldies who rarely use social media have been verified. I asked her if she could hook me up for verification, or would like to collab with me to offer services to other users but she keep silent about it. Some people there even verified their dog's and other pet's profile, and some accounts having a cartoon pics. They don't know anything about social media automation and how others are desperate on whatever access they have, they are using it on something not so worthy. If you check out her fb profile you can see a lot of people that i was talking who got that blue crown.

That's what I said + I don't know any trademark claimer.
Trademark claiming was once popular, but isn't any longer.

By the way, (because you explicitly mentioned her followers) followers don't matter at all. You can get verified with 100 followers.
You also don't need to be famous, if there is the "danger" that she could be imitated is enough for a good FB contact to verify her as she is "known enough" (+ sufficient press articles would be useful).

Instead of relying on a single person try to network and find more people who have contact or get direct contacts. Facebook has over 30k employees and in a time as we live in, it's pretty easy to find someone

The only challenge you will face is SE'ing / to make friends with them.
I don't know if you have ever claimed a name, but let's say the least: Most of the FB employees themselves don't know what a claim is. I once met a rather nice guy and he "helped" me with a claim. He took over my ticket and could do the procedure without any other employee involved.

//EDIT: Many friends of her, including her boyfriend, were/are working for GMA News, hence the easier verification

Kurt Sanches · Jun 15, 2019

AestheticHustler said:
That's what I said + I don't know any trademark claimer.
Trademark claiming was once popular, but isn't any longer.

By the way, (because you explicitly mentioned her followers) followers don't matter at all. You can get verified with 100 followers.
You also don't need to be famous, if there is the "danger" that she could be imitated is enough for a good FB contact to verify her as she is "known enough" (+ sufficient press articles would be useful).

Instead of relying on a single person try to network and find more people who have contact or get direct contacts. Facebook has over 30k employees and in a time as we live in, it's pretty easy to find someone
The only challenge you will face is SE'ing / to make friends with them.
I don't know if you have ever claimed a name, but let's say the least: Most of the FB employees themselves don't know what a claim is. I once met a rather nice guy and he "helped" me with a claim. He took over my ticket and could do the procedure without any other employee involved.

//EDIT: Many friends of her, including her boyfriend, were/are working for GMA News, hence the easier verification

I am fully aware that number of followers aren't necessary to get a verified account, I just mentioned it because it was an old account, meaning to say if you are "known enough" it should be a common sense to have more followers than usual instagrammers, if someone well known join the platform right now and ask instagram for verification they could have it, regardless even if they have zero follower. "if there is the "danger" that she could be imitated is enough for a good FB contact to verify her" We have a "Report an Impersonator Account option" they will just close anyone who imitate, a lot of pretty girls who is well known enough have posers, but that doesn't even mean it is enough reason to be verified, she never had posers either. All she had was an access.

I am working with several local brands and local public figures commonly in the metal/heavy music industry, (yep I'm a musician too at night, and an IT guy in the morning), most of them are well known yet failed to have access to such branding capabilities of choosing whatever usernames they want. Of course we submit everything that is needed, however as an individual, and not having the same overall access to what I mentioned that those elite have, we never have the same impact of getting emphasize in the platform. I was able to claim several usernames by the way using trademark registration for 2 tech startup brands i used to promote before, I'm not saying trademark is the solution as it wasn't cheap either, but if you already have a trademark you should use it on anyway possible in order to help you gain some leverage, but if you don't, it is not really advisable to register just so you can file a dispute, having it doesn't guarantee an overall success.

As I've mentioned, the entertainment industry here have that access, including record label, and also mentioned that she used to work for a TV station which is actually the GMA news which is also part of the entertainment industry. She isn't well known enough, as local citizen I don't even know her and never heard of her name until we met, however a lot of well known people who work on the same industry who have plenty of followers(just a proof that they are well known) failed to get verified when they did a submission on the individual level. The entertainment industry here can do it, even their cameramen who's names aren't even heard of have several verified accounts, even their dummies they use to fish women have those blue check and vanity usernames.

Trying to friend someone from facebook just to get that advantage wouldn't be that easy if you live here in the Philippines, and trying to connect to someone half a globe away for you just so you can fool around and ask for a blue check and vanity usernames wouldn't be that great. I know it's possible, as I worked as an Ethical Hacker / Cyber Security Consultant for the Government building IT infrastructure, and social engineer is one of my expertise, but it's not really worth it. They are advised and trained too, reason why they now allow individual submission for verification now, as their employees sell those before, if they get caught, it means goodbye to their job. As someone who was able to have an insider, aside from the claim, did you get verified?

Deleted member 1274522 · Jun 15, 2019

Kurt Sanches said:
I am fully aware that number of followers aren't necessary to get a verified account, I just mentioned it because it was an old account, meaning to say if you are "known enough" it should be a common sense to have more followers than usual instagrammers, if someone well known join the platform right now and ask instagram for verification they could have it, regardless even if they have zero follower. "if there is the "danger" that she could be imitated is enough for a good FB contact to verify her" We have a "Report an Impersonator Account option" they will just close anyone who imitate, a lot of pretty girls who is well known enough have posers, but that doesn't even mean it is enough reason to be verified, she never had posers either. All she had was an access.

I am working with several local brands and local public figures commonly in the metal/heavy music industry, (yep I'm a musician too at night, and an IT guy in the morning), most of them are well known yet failed to have access to such branding capabilities of choosing whatever usernames they want. Of course we submit everything that is needed, however as an individual, and not having the same overall access to what I mentioned that those elite have, we never have the same impact of getting emphasize in the platform. I was able to claim several usernames by the way using trademark registration for 2 tech startup brands i used to promote before, I'm not saying trademark is the solution as it wasn't cheap either, but if you already have a trademark you should use it on anyway possible in order to help you gain some leverage, but if you don't, it is not really advisable to register just so you can file a dispute, having it doesn't guarantee an overall success.

As I've mentioned, the entertainment industry here have that access, including record label, and also mentioned that she used to work for a TV station which is actually the GMA news which is also part of the entertainment industry. She isn't well known enough, as local citizen I don't even know her and never heard of her name until we met, however a lot of well known people who work on the same industry who have plenty of followers(just a proof that they are well known) failed to get verified when they did a submission on the individual level. The entertainment industry here can do it, even their cameramen who's names aren't even heard of have several verified accounts, even their dummies they use to fish women have those blue check and vanity usernames.

Trying to friend someone from facebook just to get that advantage wouldn't be that easy if you live here in the Philippines, and trying to connect to someone half a globe away for you just so you can fool around and ask for a blue check and vanity usernames wouldn't be that great. I know it's possible, as I worked as an Ethical Hacker / Cyber Security Consultant for the Government building IT infrastructure, and social engineer is one of my expertise, but it's not really worth it. They are advised and trained too, reason why they now allow individual submission for verification now, as their employees sell those before, if they get caught, it means goodbye to their job. As someone who was able to have an insider, aside from the claim, did you get verified?

Of course, if you are the legitimate owner or represent of a trademark it's fully justified and suggestable, considering you don't have any faster options, to claim via trademark.
Usually, it shouldn't take longer than 3 weeks and depending in which country you filed your trademark, you shouldn't even need to file a dispute.

Yeah, I knew a movie crew where five of there "movie accounts" (I can't remember whether there were actors or role-specific accounts or cameramen, idk), but five of their accounts just got instantly verified. Later on he was selling these accounts. 5x verified accounts + OG mail + option to rename them (I think he charged 1k$ for the re-name as he still had contact to the team who verified the accounts). That was probably some good money he made out of this (as a "side-deal"). Either way, it's not just the entertainment industry who has a big influence on, well, "entertainment platforms"

Sounds great! Yeah, well, if you get a good contact you can do claim after claim with him. So the SE would be worth it.
Nope, though I didn't request a verification. I probably would have gotten the claim anyways as an experienced claimer helped me, but with someone inside who is handling your ticket faster and isn't asking all the unnecessary questions is definitely easier + the main factor that played a role is that he knew how to request a proper claim. -> Many aren't as trained as you described them. Some of them can't even speak proper English

Instagram Username Sniper/Bot?!

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