The lie of free followers on Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app for smartphones, has cost 100,000 users their accounts.

An app called "InstLike," which reached millions of users on Android and the Apple Store and targeted Instagram accounts, promises to boost your follower count — but asks for your Instagram account details in return.

Some users who fall for the app's trap get added to a new victim's follower list — without, of course, the users being added ever knowing about it. According to a statement from Instagram, 100,000 users have had their accounts compromised this way. Once the scale of the scam became clear, Apple pulled the app, and it later disappeared from Google Play too. Despite its short run, the app managed to steal 100,000 passwords. However, no information was given on how many times the app had been downloaded in total.