insta-clone-mauve.vercel.app is a fake Instagram page hosted on a free Vercel subdomain. It is titled simply "Instagram" so it passes for the real login screen. It targets Instagram users, including creators, businesses and anyone who might get a link promising followers, verification or a copyright warning. PhishDestroy first saw it on 2026-09-17. The site has been offline since 2026-09-25 after the hosting provider blocked it, and it was still dead at our last check on 2026-10-19.
How the scam works
The "insta-clone" name says what the page is: a copy of Instagram's interface meant to look trustworthy at a glance. Victims usually arrive through a direct message, comment or email that creates urgency, then type their username and password into the fake form. Those credentials go straight to the operator, who can log in, change the recovery email and phone, and lock the owner out. Hijacked accounts are then commonly resold or used to push crypto and investment scams to the victim's followers.
Evidence
Eleven of 89 VirusTotal engines flag the domain as of 2026-09-23. They include Emsisoft, ESET, Fortinet, G-Data, Gridinsoft, Kaspersky, LevelBlue and Lionic. That is a minority of engines, but it is a spread of independent vendors rather than a single outlier. urlscan.io rated the page malicious and identified Instagram as the brand being imitated. Spamhaus lists it in its Domain Block List as an abused phishing domain, and it appears on the PhishDestroy blocklist.
Infrastructure
The operator did not register a lookalike domain. They deployed the clone on Vercel's shared hosting, which costs nothing and can be set up in minutes. The address resolves to 216.198.79.3 on an Amazon.com, Inc. network in the US. The TLS certificate from Google Trust Services is the standard one Vercel issues automatically, so the padlock says nothing about legitimacy. The page lasted about eight days after we first spotted it before the provider took it down.
What to do
If you entered your Instagram login here, change your password right away from the official app. Turn on two-factor authentication with an authenticator app, and check that your recovery email and phone number are still yours. Review active sessions and log out of any device you don't recognize. Revoke third-party app access you didn't grant, and change the password anywhere else you reused it. If you are already locked out, use Instagram's hacked-account recovery flow and warn your followers not to trust messages sent from your account. Defenders should block the hostname, check proxy logs for visits since 2026-09-17, and treat Vercel subdomains carrying brand names like "insta" as high-risk lures.
Saved certificate metadata. Certificate dates without a timezone are shown as stored. Transport encryption does not establish that the site is trustworthy.
Template-based draft · optional AI wording assistance requires separate consent
AI辅助草稿——事件详细信息由AI提供商处理 · 自行审核并提交
After a phishing incident
针对受害者的建议与指导
Choose the steps that match what you shared. Keep a copy of this report alongside your own records.
我应该立即采取什么措施？
紧急
Stop using the suspicious site. Open the real service through its official app or an address you already trust.
更改所有密码 — 电子邮件、Exchange 账户，以及任何使用同一密码的账户
启用双因素认证 使用身份验证器应用（而非短信）。禁用基于短信的恢复功能
冻结卡片 如果您在钓鱼网站上输入了银行信息
我应该为报告收集哪些信息？
联邦调查局（FBI）指南
Keep original emails, receipts, messages and screenshots in a secure place. A factual timeline helps the receiving authority understand what happened. IC3 evidence guidance ↗
Payment records — if you paid, save the receipt, amount, date, payment provider and recipient details.
Your bank or payment provider — contact its fraud team promptly through official contact details if money or card information was exposed.
当地警方 — 即使无法立即采取行动，也能留下正式记录
A report is not a guarantee of recovery or investigation, but prompt, accurate transaction data can help authorities and service providers trace the incident.
How do phishing scams typically work?
虚假网站 — 与正规网站完全一致的克隆网站，仅域名略有改动
猪的屠宰 — 通过Telegram/WhatsApp/交友软件花数周时间建立信任，随后钱被骗走
退款诈骗 — fraudsters pose as recovery agents and demand upfront fees. Never share a seed phrase or pay before independently verifying the provider
About this reportSources, observation dates and corrections
This report combines saved page captures, registration and network records, scanner results and PhishDestroy reporting history. Each source keeps its own observation date. Open a source report to inspect the original result.
The AI-assisted analysis was written on . It describes the evidence available at that time; later source checks can change.
A capture documents what was shown. A scanner result records that provider’s assessment at the time of its check. Neither a valid certificate nor a zero-detection result is a guarantee of safety.
(US)
