Have you noticed the number of Twitter Direct Messages that you are receiving that contain a strange personal message? Over the last couple of months the number of these messages has increased and just as worrying the actual messages themselves keep changing.
These are Direct Messages that are apparently from someone that you are following as they are in your Direct Messages.
Messages such as :
This video with you in it had me dying lol
This must be you…
lmao…omg i am laughing so hard at this pic of me my friend found
ROFLMAO i can’t stop laughing at this pic of you
lmao…omg i am laughing so hard at this pic u i just found
haha i cant stop laughing, your facial expression here is priceless!
lmao this video of you is funny as hell, im sharing it with everyone
haha i cant stop laughing, your facial expression here is priceless!
when did you make this video? its hilarious, cant stop laughing lol
This made me laugh so hard when i saw this about you lol
I saw a real bad blog about you, you seen this?
Read this yet? horrible blog going around about you
Someone is posting nasty updates on their twitter about you, heres the posts they’ve been making
I know who has a secret crush on you here on twitter! i promised i wouldnt tell..you must go here . . . . to find out
You seen what this person is saying about you? . . . . terrible things..
Hey, so some real nasty things are being said about you here ….. i cant believe what was said..
~ ~ ~ ~
If you were to click on the shortened link then you (hopefully) would be lucky and be blocked by your anti-virus package from a site that is probably loaded with either viruses or malware.
This is a timely reminder that your PC (or Mac) should have up-to-date virus and malware protection (I recommend the latest Norton) and for everyone (Mac users included) DO NOT click on shortened links unless you have a pretty good idea where they will take you or who has sent them.
This is why the bad guys are hacking Twitter accounts and sending these spoof messages as the unwary may think these messages are from a friend.
So be a social media friend and send an open message to the Twitter user whose account was the source of the message. Please tell them to change their password urgently as they have probably been hacked – it is the least you can do.
Please don’t use the word “hacked” as from my experience you’ll get a lot of messages yourself then, instead use something like “h+cked”
PS So just how secure is your Twitter or Facebook password?
Hi Ian
This is an excellent post. I have actually been a victim to these hacks on 3 occasions.
The first time that it happened, I was the one sending the messages – It all came from an app that I allowed access to Twitter.
The second time came from my iPad – It automatically opens links and it happened to be a spam link.
This time (the third and final), came from a comment I made on some ones blog. I needed to give access to my twitter account so that my comment could be left.
I am a veteran (if you can call it that) to my account being hacked. My password is super secure and now I trust no apps!
Best wishes
Martha