The fraudsters of Instagram - how companies use influencer marketing to scam us all

Have you ever been contacted by a brand on Instagram asking you to collaborate? Or been ‘scouted’ as a brand ambassador or influencer for some obscure gym wear line?

You may get these messages daily and know to just delete them but it’s easy to get sucked into these scams, especially when so many people on instagram now offer discount codes. A great idea to make some side money right? Most likely they are scammers trying to make money out of you.

Who they target:

An ambassador suggests someone who is the face of a company, actively promoting for an agreed upon wage. By signing up to be a ‘brand ambassador’ for these companies messaging you on instagram, you are not an individual specially selected to promote their brand. Most likely you are one in a million people they have messaged to try this tactic as they target anyone and everyone. Particularly if they are commenting on your post then they are most likely using a bot in order to bulk message people similar to you.

How they work:

Most of the time these scams work by a company offering you discounted products in return for a discount code and a minimal cut of whatever you sell on, and we mean extremely menial. This means you have to buy the product upfront, a massive red flag. They often target those without the following to have a swipe up feature to buy so unless a family member or close friend takes pity you are unlikely to make any money. So ultimately you are just their buyer and they are selling you the product meaning they make a fortune out of their ‘brand ambassadors’.

These companies work by drop-shipping. That means marking up cheaply bought items by at least 400%. These would all be bought in bulk. By marking up the items they can make even more money and by preying on normal people to become ‘brand ambassadors’ they convince people they will make money. Another sign they are drop-shipping is by looking at the shipping time- over two weeks and you can be sure they’re shipping in from China.

How to spot them:

If they are commenting on your posts or sending you DM’s that are from random accounts and not legitimate business accounts then they are scammers. They normally will have an array of random accounts as they regularly get shut down. Unless you are contacted by an actual brands business account then it is most likely a scam and normally these brands will contact you in a more professional manner than a DM or a comment.

Another way to spot a scammer is to look at their own instagram account. If they are promoting that they are looking for brand ambassadors with phrases like ‘DM to collaborate’, ’DM to be a brand ambassador’ or ‘DM to be an influencer’ then they are not a real company company looking for actual customers- they are looking to make money out of brand ambassadors like you. Their engagement on their page will also be really low. They may have bought followers to build up their page and look more legitimate but a quick look at their posts will show poor quality images and hardly any likes.

So next time you question that Instagram request DM listen to your instinct and don’t fork out any money to a company, whatever they promise you and however much you want to start you Influencer career.

Coconut Beach Preset Pack

Photoshop is one of the most popular resources used by web and graphic designers on a daily basis. Photoshop is extremely effective for designing and photo manipulation, but Adobe still offers Lightroom, which can be used for photo processing, editing, and image organizing.

You probably deal with a variety of photographs as a designer, including those produced by customers, bought stock photos, free stock photos, and maybe even your own. Since designers deal with too many images, and many of them are also photography enthusiasts, Lightroom has grown in popularity outside of the realm of professional photographers.

This Preset is one of our favourites and it is like the filters that celebrities use on their Instagram! Coconut Beach is perfect for those who want to make their beach photos pop or their tropical getaways look more aesthetic.

Vacation in the Summer with ease

This Summer Beach Preset Pack is built to help you get the warm sun, cold waves, and soothing breeze back into your pictures, whether you're a world traveller or just treated yourself to a much-needed holiday! 

Color with a hint of sun

Our Beach Lightroom Presets will brighten your pictures, add contrast, keep skin tones warm and realistic, and add deep teal blues to the shadows and midtones, making them perfect for travel and holiday photos.

Colouring with precision

Any Lightroom Presets automatically apply colours to a whole picture without taking into account highlights, mid tones, shadows, or other colours. Our Coconut Beach Preset Pack will intelligently shield your photographs from undesirable results and leave you with beautiful mobile results!

Tones of Natural Skin

The use of blues and greens in skin tones will make people seem unnatural. For spectacular colour and contrast, enhance the natural reds and oranges in skin tones while applying blues to the shadows.

Preset Pack for the Beach

Our Beach Lightroom Presets were created to bring out the vibrant colours seen on sunny beaches and along the coast. Warm beaches, clear waters, and tanned skin.

Completely customizable

Are you about to experiment with your own looks? Use our presets as a start, then play around with the controls to build a look that's all your own.

Unique Feeds

Designed by us, our presets will provide powerful looks with polished results–and all in just a few clicks!

Lightroom Classic & Lightroom Mobile

Our Preset Packs are designed to work with Lightroom Mobile and any version of Lightroom Classic. No matter what you use to create great images, our presets can help!

Want to learn more?

Check out our Lightroom Guide for Beginners

Preset FAQ

How To Pose: Posing Tips (You Don't Have To Show Your Face)

Let's face it, everyone enjoys a great photo of themselves. There doesn't have to be a reason to want someone to take a picture of you, whether you're travelling in Greece, visiting a new part of the City, or just enjoying your outfit of the day. It's 2021. We're all engrossed in our own selves at least a little bit. At this stage, it doesn't matter. In this post, I'll discuss how to pose for photos for your Instagram and other social media!

It's the actual worst when you actually summon the nerve to strike a cute pose in the middle of the driveway or road only to find that you have no idea what you're doing and, instead of dwelling on the dope shot you're about to take, you're staring into the souls of passers-by wondering how you got there.

CONFIDENCE, BABY, CONFIDENCE

My Number 1 hack to getting the best out of your photo shoot is to have confidence or fake it till you make it! It makes the whole mood of your photo change and will end up helping your engagement and following. People want positivity.

Tip #1: Take up as much of the screen as possible

Consider yourself as the art inside a museum's picture frame. You don't want to be stood there taking up the smallest amount of room available or you'll appear small and insignificant in the shot. Instead, imitate this sense of strength and strength by using your arms, legs, and body to take up as much room around you as possible while being aesthetically appealing. You are the subject of the photo so make sure you're acting like it!  Separating your limbs from your body will result in a stronger posture and image in the end.

Tip #2 on How to Pose: Shift Your Weight

Have a lot of fun with this one! Shift your weight forward to seem enthusiastic, as though you're approaching the camera, or shift your weight to the left to seem "effortless" and carefree. Make sure your core is engaged and your shoulders are pulled back so you don't end up flopping about like a dead fish. It's similar to this:

Posing Tip #3: Determine Your Angles

Assess yourself in the mirror to see if you have a favourite "side" or like images taken straight on. If you aren't very curvy, standing on one hip will add texture to the side of the body, creating the illusion of curves. Personally, I think it's safest to shift the body to the side at around a 45 degree angle. However, I believe the best advice is to imagine a picture you want to replicate and consider the angles in that shot. How can you use your body to build identical angles and get the same vibe?

The same can be said for sitting poses.

4. Tip #4: Incorporate movement into the poses.

Some of the strongest photos have movement in them. It is more fun to look at from the outside while still giving an inside look at your persona. Static portraits, though more styled, don't really highlight who you are or reflect your character, in my opinion. By turning in a circle, looking over your shoulder as you walk (slowly), or even doing a little dance, you can create a cool, movement shot. You'll always feel like a freak while trying it, but the least that can happen is that you'll get an epic candid shot out of it. Don't be scared to be out of the ordinary and/or laugh and enjoy taking them!

BONUS!

No Face Posing Tips: Selfies for shy people (ways to take a self-portrait without showing your face)

1. Accessories can be as impactful as an entire body shot like the image below.

2. Using props effectively

Using props to hide your identity is a smart way to do so. Depending on the prop you use, they will add a styled aspect to your image, as well as help create a story and display some of your personality. When you're getting your picture taken, it also makes you feel less exposed and vulnerable because you're keeping something hidden. You can use a variety of props, ranging from phones to a coffee cup; here's some inspiration!

3. The classic mask shot

Easily hide your face with an on topic and current issue: mask wearing like best dressed does below.

4.Pet pose

Use your little furbaby to cover your face!

5. Turn Away

Turn away from the camera.

The way you stand in front of the camera will help you show yourself to the audience without giving away too much information. Turning your back to the camera, possibly to a view or scene, implies a reflective moment that you invite the audience to join in and interact in, unlike in the theatre. 

Let us know what poses you like in the comments and as always follow us on Instagram for updates and freebies!