Nairobi News

Kenyan singers have had it rough on social media platforms.

From online bullying to having their accounts hacked, artists have had to grow thick skin with others returning fire with fire.

While the hackers target their huge following, hacking on social media has become an unwelcome norm that sees some Kenyans lose money or their friends or followers scammed by the hackers.

In the digital era, as much as there are advantages new challenges seem to crop up every single day with the hackers also getting better and ‘wiser’ in their craft.

Here are some of the Kenyan artists who have had their IG accounts hacked;

Trio Mio

Over the weekend, the young rapper disclosed that his IG account had been hacked. He made the announcement through his record label Trouble Music saying the account had been ‘compromised’ and was currently under the control of an unauthorized person.

He warned his fans or potential financial partners not to engage with it. Prior to it being hacked, the account had generated over 430k followers.

“Please be aware that any messages or posts from the account may not be from me. I advise you to ignore any suspicious messages or requests from this account and do not share any personal information or send money to anyone claiming to be me,” he said.

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DJ Pierra Makena

In 2018, said that her account had been hacked by a guy residing in Tanzania. She also cautioned her fans not to fall into any trap from the hacked account as it had even started advertising businesses.

The hacker, she said also changed the name to @Pierramack urging her followers not to engage in any communication.

“My team and I are working on retrieving the account. Any communication coming from this account is not from me.”

Kenrazy

Rapper Kenrazy born Kenneth Aketch disclosed that when his account was hacked, the hackers demanded a ransom of Sh150,000 to give it back.

Though he first considered dishing out the cash, he explained that the terms of their negotiation fell off and he opted to surrender the account.

“My page which had over 140,000 followers was hacked. The hacker went on to delete all my photos and demand I give him $1,500 which is approximately Sh150,000 which when I keenly looked at, his terms for giving me back the account, it felt weird,” he said.

Pained by starting all over again, the self-proclaimed King of Ghipukaa assured his fans of his resilience and willingness to push on and give them more music.

“I won’t lie I felt the pain because it’s my work for the years I’ve been on Instagram but trust me, it’s extremely hard to break my spirit. I am an overcomer, I will overcome. I thank you my fans for always supporting me all through the years. Let the music continue…. New one loading to start 2021.”

Nameless

In 2021, veteran singer Nameless born David Mathenge lost his IG account. Kenyans online were quick to notice peculiar posts on the account and their concerns were confirmed by his wife, Wahu Kagwi.

“Hey, fam. Nameless’ Instagram account has been hacked. We are working to resolve the issue but for now please disregard any posts coming from the Nameless Kenya account,” she said in a statement.

The account with over 1m followers was later recovered.

Announcing the successful recovery, Nameless shared, “We are so happy over here and grateful to all that assisted me to get it back. Will fill you in on that later! For now, allow me to celebrate with my firstborn @tumi.mathenge.”

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Instagram shares that when you know you have been hacked and you still have access to the account make sure to first change your password.

You should also tap the two-factor authentication, confirm your phone number or email address, then remove any linked accounts you do not recognise, and also revoke access to any suspicious third-party apps.

If you do not have access to your account check your email. If you did not get any email, request a login link to update your password. If you are unable to recover the account with the login link, tap ‘Need more help?’ and confirm you own the account by entering a security code.

If you did not receive a security code, you should click on ‘I can’t access this email or phone number’ and follow the instructions from there.

If you submitted a support request, you will receive an email from the Support Team at Facebook, we may ask you to verify your identity, an email address or phone number you signed up with, the type of device used at signing in, or a video selfie.

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