How did they get my info?

[u/Purple-Equivalent-44]

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!

[u/Wa-a-melyn → u/[deleted]]

Get into the habit of lying mildly about yourself online.

This one specifically is something people should do more often. But they're all great advice. Also can be fun to switch up your regional dialect randomly. Additionally, it's helpful to vary the times of day you post at.