Technology & Internet

Can't gain access back to alternate Instagram account (not linked to main account anymore)?

So after not using Instagram for almost an entire year, I've decided to go back to it out of boredom and also I might need it to market my startup (s) to younger audiences one day. Turns out my alt account I created before is no longer accessible to me, and it doesn't show up as an extra account/profile in Instagram nor in Meta center. I read some articles and apparently Instagram changed their policies so that such accounts before are no longer linked automatically, so I'd have to manually link it back.

Problem is that even though I remember my username email, and password, that account is locked with SMS 2FA instead of authenticator 2FA. I clearly remember that I disabled SMS 2FA shortly before deactivating Instagram and I never got any emails warning me someone got unauthorized access to that account like last time (long story for another time). The phone number is an old one I used to have, but no longer have access to as the SIM card for that expired as it's pay-per-use and I forgot to renew the balance, as I always often do.

I've tried the video selfie option to get my account back, but I got an email telling me it didn't work and also that account has no photos of me; the profile picture is that of someone else that I put there, so people wouldn't know it's my alt. So due to those factors, I probably can't choose to upload my government ID to Meta because they'd probably assume I'm trying to gain access to someone else's account via identity fraud. Oh right, I also either never saved the backup codes or I did but I've checked my email and gallery, yet they're nowhere to be found (I do have codes for Steam and GitHub).

Can't gain access back to alternate Instagram account (not linked to main account anymore)?
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