Mexican weather girl and social media star Yanet Garcia has become the latest victim of a scam created by hackers pretending to share intimate videos of the celebrities, losing control of her popular Instagram account on Monday, September 16.
Garcia became a viral sensation back in 2015 when YouTube channel Ozzy Man Reviews uploaded a video about her, garnering over 20 million views in the four years since its release.
Since then, Garcia has dated well-known Call of Duty player Doug ‘Censor’ Martin, and amassed over 11 million followers on her Instagram account. However, the 28-year-old has seemingly lost access to her account.
Garcia is a popular weather girl in Mexico.
Early on September 16, Garcia’s verified account began undergoing a number of changes, with the bio, story, and posts all being updated by whoever has control of the page.
In a new post uploaded to the page, an image showing photoshopped version of Garcia in a state of undress telling the account’s followers to go to the page’s Story, and swipe up to access an alleged tape of the actress.
The account’s bio was also changed to mention the purported video and includes a link that Instagram users are advised not to click on. The hackers used an image taken from a modeling shoot performed by Garcia to advertise the same URL on her story.
A post appeared on Garcia’s Instagram on September 16.
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The web address found in the story and her bio is a TinyURL link, which when clicked on asks users to enter their personal information to win prizes such as an H&M gift card or Fortnite V-Bucks. Instagram users are advised not to visit this site, and not to enter any details.
Garcia is aware of the hack, posting images on Twitter and tweeting at Instagram to help her and return access of the account to its rightful owner, and proof that the hackers had tampered with her images.
HELP ME!!!! @instagram PLEASE! My account has been hacked !!!! :raised_hands::skin-tone-2::pray::skin-tone-2: pic.twitter.com/qJLGWixi5b
— Yanet García :flag-mx: (@IamYanetGarcia) September 16, 2019
The 28-year-old isn’t the only one to be targeted by hackers, with Pussycat Doll and former X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger suffering from a similar issue on Sunday, September 15.
Update: 8:29 AM EST
Yanet Garcia has regained access to her Instagram account, and removed the images and links from her bio, updating to include her business email.