Fruit invasion: Instagram hit by fruity spam

Instagram was hit with fruit spam over the weekend. (Instagram)

Anyone who used Instagram over the weekend may have been bombarded with even more food photos than usual.

That's because the photo-based social network was hit with a spam attack. Scammers took over users' accounts posting photos of fruit, and linking to a fake BBC page promoting a "miracle fruit diet".

"Ever seen this stuff?," read one of the photo descriptions. "I guess its super healthy, im giving it a try, (sic)."

"I saw it on Dr Oz's show! Link is in my bio #lovemyfollowers #health."

The link used in the attack has been clicked on more than 35,000 according to PCMag.com. However, it is not known how many users have been affected.

Instagram says it has since deleted the accounts along with their photos.

"Earlier today a small portion of our users experienced a spam incident where unwanted photos were posted from their accounts," an Instagram spokesperson told tech website The Next Web. "Our security and spam team quickly took actions to secure the accounts involved, and the posted photos are being deleted."

Twitter was also hit with a miracle diet spam attack last week but it is not known if the two attacks are connected.

News.com.au has contacted Instagram for comment.