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Instagram account trade booms amid risks

4 mins read

Instagram account trade booms amid risks

Habari za Dharura

January 18, 2025October 23, 2026 Admin0

Dar es Salaam. Buying, A growing trade in Instagram accounts with established audiences is creating an income opportunity for some Tanzanians, but buyers risk losing millions of shillings when sellers disappear, accounts stop working or promised followers fail to materialise.

The transactions involve buying entire accounts with thousands of existing followers or paying individuals to help increase followers’ numbers on existing profiles. Prices vary according to the size of an account’s audience and agreements between buyers and sellers, with some established accounts fetching millions of shillings.

For buyers, the attraction is the prospect of gaining an audience without spending months or years building one from scratch. For sellers, the business offers a way to make money from accounts developed by publishing content and attracting followers. However, the experiences of some buyers show that a large follower count does not necessarily guarantee value or protect them against fraud.

Daniel Mushi, 26, said he paid Sh2 million for an Instagram account that stopped working within two weeks of the purchase.

“I tried to contact the person who sold it to me, but I could not find him again, leaving me without a way to establish what had happened,” he said. The risks extend beyond buying entire accounts to include services that promise to increase follower numbers for a fee.

Sarah Kiango, 28, said she lost Sh100,000 after paying a service provider who promised to add 50,000 followers to her Instagram account. “After receiving the payment, the person blocked me. I tried calling the same number they had used to contact me, but I was blocked again,” she said.

Ms Kiango said she was unable to recover her money or obtain the promised service. Amina Abdallah Hamisi, 22, said she also lost Sh1.2 million after attempting to purchase an Instagram account advertised as having 300,000 followers.

“I made the payment believing the agreement would be honoured, but the person blocked me immediately afterwards. I followed up repeatedly, but I could not get a response or resolve the matter,” she said. Not all experiences have been negative, however. Elias Justine, 34, said he paid a friend Sh40,000 for 20,000 followers and had not noticed them disappearing from his account.

“I do not know exactly what my friend did to get them onto my account, but I have not experienced the problem of losing them,” he said. For sellers, the trade can offer a source of income without the costs associated with operating a physical business.

Brian Daniel, an Instagram account seller in Dar es Salaam, said the process involved creating an account, publishing interesting content and attracting followers until the profile became appealing to prospective buyers.

“If you think about it, it is a great job. You can stay at home, search for interesting content, post it and grow your account. Once it becomes popular, you can sell it and make money,” he said.

Mr Daniel said people intending to sell their accounts should consider how they create and manage them, including the email addresses associated with the profiles.

He advised prospective sellers to use separate email addresses rather than their main personal accounts when creating profiles intended for sale.

“An account that comes with its original email address has a better chance of being sold. That is why it is important not to use your main personal email when creating an account you may want to sell,” he said.

He argued that an account could acquire commercial value through the time and effort invested in building its audience, comparing the practice with the sale of other business assets.

“People sell Instagram accounts for the same reasons they sell businesses, trademarks or brand names,” he said.

Nevertheless, Mr Daniel warned that follower numbers could be misleading, particularly where sellers used automated systems or purchased followers to inflate an account’s apparent popularity.

“What buyers should watch out for is accounts with mostly fake followers. Some sellers buy followers or use bots to make their accounts appear more popular than they really are,” he said.

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