Using Twitter safely
This is not the first time Twitter is hit with spam accounts and malicious links. There's been a rash of accounts that reply to you or mention your name at random or even sometimes falsely claiming to retweet something originally posted by you when you never actually posted it.
Even legitimate Twitter accounts that you follow would send you spam links via direct messages. The latest form of spam/scam dm often looks something like these: "Hi, I want to see if you will score higher on this IQ test. Take it here…" "Check out this video…" If you receive direct messages but the contents include a shortened link that you never asked for, delete the message immediately. The direct message itself won't harm anyone but if you click the link that usually follows in that direct message, there's a good chance that your Twitter account may become infected with the worm and will send direct messages to your followers containing the same link. With this latest stream of DM spam together with fake retweets and mentions/replies, I'm suggesting people to stay away from Twitter.com just like the last time it happened. Back then, just visiting the Twitter page of an infected account while you're logged in to your own will get you infected as well. Some tips to use Twitter safely: Use a trusted third party application and stick with it. Malware are sometimes stored within websites. If you don't access the website, you're unlikely to be infected by whatever malware that resides in it. Don't randomly try new services claiming to link with Twitter. Use www.oneforty.com as a guide to seeking legitimate 3rd party Twitter services. Always log out of Twitter.com when you're not accessing it from your own computer. Otherwise someone might gain access to your account. If you have to access Twitter.com from your browser, type it manually. Some links may pretend to take you there and prompt you to enter your user name and password. Unless it says http://twitter.com on the address bar, take extra care in entering your Twitter identity or simply just don't. Overall, be aware of what you do on Twitter or anywhere online for that matter. Be careful when it comes to entering your credentials. If you think your account has been compromised, check your latest tweets and direct messages in the last 24 hours for things that you never sent and change your password. Don't forget that if you change your password, you'll need to use the new password on the applications that you use Twitter from. It sounds obvious but you'll be surprised to hear how people think their account's been hacked when they simply just forgot that they've changed their passwords. Dot your i's and cross your t's.Sent from my iPhone
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