How to protect yourself as Twitter scam rise alongside the popularity of microblogging site Twitter.. 2009 has turned out to be “The Year of the Twitter Scam.” The growing popularity of microblogging sites like Twitter has sparked the rise in social networking scams.
I’m sure many of us know what twitter is all about, but for all newbies, simply put, Twitter is an Internet service where you can register for free to get your own page where you post comments and messages up to 140 characters long and that’s What is ‘twitter’ in short.
Here are the main types of Twitter scam and cures if you are affected:
1. “Easy-money, work-from-home” schemes
With this Twitter scam, firms claim they can show you how you can make money by promoting other people’s products to them. They charge a modest sign-up fee, typically a couple of dollars, but when you pay (with your credit card) you’re also signing up for a recurring monthly membership fee of around $40 for ongoing tips.
Now, there are many legitimate membership sites that charge recurring monthly fees. However, what makes these Twitter scams is that the membership explanation is either completely hidden or non-existent — and it’s almost impossible to cancel and get your money back, the only person making money from this is the twitter artist :D
Tip\Cure: There are many legitimate work from home jobs available, but this one is a fake – You don’t have to believe.
2. The Twitter phishing scam
Well, what did you expect? Anyplace where there’s a chance of netting someone’s personal details is a haven for phishing — the technique of fooling people into disclosing things like passwords, Social Security numbers and other confidential information. Even Facebook was not spared of the phishing scam.
Twitter phishing scammers have a number of different tricks for doing this but they mostly come down to the same fatal step, getting you to click a link that takes you to what appears to be a Twitter sign-on page where you give them your password.
Once they have that, they can pretend they’re you and use your account for evil purposes — like spreading more Twitter spam or infecting other people’s computers.
Tip\Cure: Change your password and never share it!
3. Instant thousands of followers
Do you want lots of followers? You might be tempted to sign up for a service that offers to deliver thousands of followers literally overnight.
They claim to be able to do this by identifying other Twitter users who automatically follow anyone who follows them. Some even claim they have built up databases of people according to their interests, so you can be sure you are targeting the right people with your “tweets.”
Well, they may or may not be able to do all of these things but they’re really no different from people who sell email addresses to spammers. They charge for the service, of course, and if you buy, you could end up being accused of trying to send Twitter spam and be banned from Twitter altogether.
Tip\Cure: Be real, and I’m sure people would like to follow you :)
4. Spreading Spyware and viruses
This Twitter scam is in full swing, using tempting messages like “Just saw this photo of you” followed by a link that, when you click it, takes you to a site that uploads malware onto your computer.
Sometimes, by exploiting the phishing technique outlined above, the message may seem to come from one of your regular followers, perhaps even a friend or relative. In reality, their Twitter account has been hijacked. There are some clever variations of this Twitter scam. For instance, one site offered a program that, when installed, supposedly would tell you who had been checking out your Twitter profile.
It did nothing of the sort. Instead, it installed spyware.
Tip\Cure: Don’t click on unknown links or install unknown applications.
5. Don’t add applications and grant permission to access your Twitter data
Although twitter conducts routine checks while approving applications, there are some applications which turn to the bad side after being approved. They try to access your information from the twitter API (once you have given them permission). Make sure, you don’t approve \ grant unknown applications permission to access your twitter data.
Tip\Cure: You can always revoke access in the twitter settings page for the applications which are misbehaving :).
Have a safe tweeting!! If you have more tips\cures for all these twitter scams, please post your comments below. And as always, if you liked this post follow me on twitter or subscribe to the mYpassion RSS feed..
