Man with games console

Nice Instagram, Shame about the Code Generator

Here’s an Instagram account we’ve seen recently sporting a nice visual trick:

Looking good...

This tiled effect is achieved by uploading pieces of the larger image one by one, and could well help to attract attention from anybody interested in free $50 Xbox cards. I mean, it’s certainly a lot better looking than most similar promo splashes we see elsewhere. The page reads:

GIFT CARD XBOX GET CARD 50$ AND 12 MONTH MEMBERSHIP GOLD FOR XBOX ! JUST VISIT OUR WEB-PAGE xbox(dot)ixhack(dot)net in BIO

That sounds awfully tempting. Here’s the site in question:

Code generator?

It claims to be a code generator, and wants visitors to enter an email address to proceed after having selected their chosen reward. After hitting the Generate Code button, the would-be recipient of free Xbox goodness sees one of those “We’re doing hacking stuff, honest” boxes pop up in the middle of the screen complete with regulation standard green text on black background:

Leet hax

What I particularly like is that as a whole pile of text begins scrolling up the screen, most would likely miss one of the last lines that pops up before the box closes out:

Wait what

Successfully injected into PSN servers

All I can guess here is that whoever wrote this particular batch of text had the Playstation Network in mind, instead of anything remotely Xbox. This isn’t exactly Swordfish, is it?

Prove what?

Your selected code Xbox successfully generated. Please click button "verify" to check and confirm that you are a man!

…well, that’s different. After this, it’s just a short step over to a survey offer page.

Survey page

The above tactic for convincing people to fill in surveys has been around for many years, yet they continue to bring in those hopeful of a little free console cash. I’ve seen pretty much every variation of the above there is, and have yet to see a single supposed code generator which actually did just that.

All you’ll get for your time and trouble is handing over personal information to marketers and / or potentially unwanted downloads. And after you’ve done all of that, there’s still no guarantee you’ll get anything at the end of it. Our advice is not to bother with offers such as these – no matter how nice their Instagram page looks.

Christopher Boyd

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christopher Boyd

Former Director of Research at FaceTime Security Labs. He has a very particular set of skills. Skills that make him a nightmare for threats like you.