Look, I am not cold of this. We have every been there. You are lying in bed at 2 AM. You hastily remember that one person from three years ago. You search their name. Their profile is locked. That little padlock icon feels later a personal challenge. You desire to look the grid. You want to look the stories. Naturally, I did what any desperate, sleep-deprived person would do. I went by the side of the bunny hole of finding a private instagram viewer. I didn't just look for release ones either. I actually opened my wallet. I entered my checking account card details into some enormously sketchy-looking websites. I did it because I wanted to know if any of these private instagram viewer apps actually work. Or are they every just high-tech ways to steal your bank info? This is my raw, unfiltered, and slightly embarrassing journey into the world of "stealth" social media tools. Spoiler alert: my bank account is crying, but I literary a lot.

My journey started similar to a easy Google search. I typed in "how to view private instagram profiles private instagram profiles." The results were endless. Page after page of sites promising "instant access" and "no human verification." Most of them looked in the manner of they were designed in 2005. They had those gleaming green "Download Now" buttons that usually lead to a virus. I ignored those. I wanted the "premium" experience.