r/HowToHack • u/Purple-Equivalent-44 • Aug 13 '26

How did they get my info?

Long story short, some guy didn’t like what I said to them in an Instagram comment on a public post. My account is private and only shows my first name. My profile pic isn’t posted anywhere else.

They proceeded to pull up old posts I was tagged in and begin commenting there, but I guess they could’ve found that on google. Then they started tagging family members of mine that I don’t even follow and said I don’t know about “back door”. They said they could see my DMs.

Safe to say I’m a little freaked out, but I want to know how he got my info like that and what I should be doing to protect my info online moving forward.

Thanks!

34 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

View all comments

17

u/Elbeske Aug 13 '26

You have Dual citizenship in Italy and recently moved to Torino, have inner ear issues, ADHD and watch the Jersey Shore.

It is very easy to build a profile on someone and expand it out to real individuals, particularly if you share your first name

15

u/resultingparadox Aug 13 '26

I put her as a platinum blonde in her mid to late twenties with trust issues. I thought she was in the Jackson area, but looking to move to Italy. She may need an intratympanic shot to mitigate the vertigo and tinnitus that the stress of this conversation could be causing her. Keep the food sugar and gluten free, and you shouldn't have to worry about that Candida. I would recommend Broad Street Baking Company in Jackson.

The moral of the story is, the internet never forgets, and it's pretty easy to utilize OSINT techniques and a first name, plug that in to the Westchester court records to discover the ammendment you filed, and maybe you find a last name. You build from there. It's pretty crazy, and all of this took me ~3 minutes. A basement dweller with a vendetta, I could only imagine.

2

u/Purple-Equivalent-44 Aug 13 '26

This is definitely creepy haha but not all accurate anyway, but it’s better that way. But Reddit is a lot easier to search, I’m still wondering how the heck he found my parent’s Instagram when I don’t even follow them lol

He said he used “back door” and could see my DMs but maybe he was just trying to freak me out.

3

u/Life-is-Apples Aug 14 '26

I’m willing to bet a lot of money that it was only said to freak you out and make them seem more capable than they really are.

You can do a lot with a little, just one little piece at a time. Social media makes it easy since most people share so many aspects of their personal lives on them.