"They've confused me, they got me at a time when I was tired, you think, 'What's the harm it can do for me? It's one email,'" Edwards told news.com.au.
By changing his email on his bio, this automatically changed the email to his account and the scammer then changed the password, with the reset link being sent to their email address.
He admits he felt "a little silly" and "like a fool" in the aftermath but never could have imagined the full scope of what this meant for his career.
Edwards still hasn't been able to get control of his account. The impact has been extreme.
After locking him out, the scammer then contacted Edwards via his personal social media and said he could get his account back – but on one condition.
The local music sensation had to make a video talking up bitcoin and passing his followers to a URL provided by the cyber-criminal.
He refused to make this ransom video, so the hacker directly contacted his loyal followers.
"They then started contacting my fans and trying to bribe them," Edwards said. "It actually put a big dent in my following and reputation."
Edwards reported the account and used his other social media platforms to encourage his followers to do the same.
But even with hundreds of fans confirming they had reported the hacked profile, it remained online for two months.
The hacker posted about their bitcoin scam for all his followers to see.
Some of his fans fell for the fraudulent scheme and their social media was also hacked.
Others angrily approached him wondering why they hadn't been paid their $500 as promised.
To top off the hellish six months, Edwards has also taken a big financial hit.
Instagram made up a huge portion of his fan base and was a way to distribute merchandise and new music.
He reckons he's lost thousands of dollars and some losses can't be measured – such as fans unfollowing him because of the spam.
"I have since started up a new backup account but it's been hard to build up due to the changes in the algorithm," he said.
"I lost thousands of followers and a tonne of business."
The Sydney-based rapper was only 3000 followers away from being able to get a verified blue tick on Instagram.
With a new album set to drop on March 29, Edwards is desperately trying to fix his account, otherwise, he is set to lose up to thousands of dollars.
Perhaps even more frustrating for the dad-of-one has been the response, or lack thereof, from Meta, which oversees Instagram.
He's lodged multiple reports with Instagram, showing the proof he has been hacked and proof of his own identity.
But he hasn't received any communication back from the social media giant.
After two months, his hacked account was taken down. But instead of restoring access to him, it has been disabled.
Now, six months after that fateful night, he feels no closer to getting his career back on track.
After news.com.au contacted Instagram for comment, a reset link was sent to Edwards' account.
