The Clone Wars: The Russians Flirt with Instagram & Fake Follower Vending Machines

From Instagram bot farms in China all the way to vending machines in Moscow that promise to sell you fake followers — the Facebook-owned empire is attracting the attention of the world around. When it comes to Russia especially, the country seems to be developing a little crush on the glorious IG queen.

The allure of attracting more and more traffic to your IG account is, yes, undeniable. That's why one company, called Snatap, marketed on just that idea and started its own little bot business right in the heart of Moscow.

The Russian company created a vending machine that sells users fake likes and followers for their Instagram accounts. Check out the video Snatap sent to Motherboard displaying how the whole process works:

For the equivalent of 89 cents, the machines allow you to purchase 100 fake Instagram likes for any photo you choose. If you want followers, then the price increases to $1.77 for 100 IG followers. After all, Instagram is a like a game, and with these new vending machines, Snatap is basically supplying the cheat codes for you to win it.

According to Motherboard, the company is already expanding its services in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. So, shall we expect to see an Instagram bot machine coming to a shopping mall near us soon?

Who knows, but this isn't the first time we've seen Russia flirt with Instagram, either.

Most recently, a group of Russian hackers left code under one of Britney Spears' IG posts. The code was used as a way of communicating between the hacking organization without being tracked. Top Instagram accounts, like Spears', get an immense amount of traffic every day, providing the perfect hiding place for groups who want to communicate while not being seen.

So, what's the verdict? To me, it looks like Russia is cozying up to the idea of marrying scams with Instagram, but what do you think?