Everone seems to be getting hacked on twitter..How to Lose 20 lbs.of Fat in 30 Days is the message there spamming people with.. #becareful
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Gareth Saunders (@Cahirpark) June 03, 2012
Florida Congressman Bill Posey was a victim earlier this week, but he isn’t the only one. Dubious fat-loss tweets are being published on Twitter every minute of every day. It appears that thousands of innocent Twitter users’ accounts have been compromised.
And that’s probably not the worst of it. The tweets appear to contain links to “channelnewsnow.com” or “channelinfonews.com.” Twitchy believes these links take the user to a site that contains some kind of malware. Anyone who clicks on the links may be at risk of downloading a virus onto his or her computer.
Here’s just a tiny sample of the dubious fat-loss tweets:
It seems as though my account has been hacked and all kinds of weight loss messages have been going out. How do I fix that?—
Gord Fairholm (@gfairholm33) June 03, 2012
That weight loss crap is bullshit. My account was hacked.—
Ruggs Edinburgh (@ruggsafharm2) June 03, 2012
My account was hacked with weight loss tweets–Sorry everyone–I teach Hip The Hoopla hoop dance & happy humorous health-not gimmicks.—
Hip The Hoopla (@hipthehoopla) June 03, 2012
Sorry friends! My account was hacked.. I promise I'm not working for the weight loss industry!!!—
Hart Linker (@Linkermusic) June 02, 2012
My Twitter account was hacked. Disregard the 2 channelnewsnow.com tweets accredited to me. I do not endorse any weight loss products.—
Deb Rondeau -speaker (@debrondeau) June 02, 2012
Yeh soz, my account was hacked. I wasn't giving you weight loss advice, you fat bastards.—
Scott the Red (@R_o_M) June 02, 2012
Please excuse all the weight loss tweets. My Twitter account was hacked!—
Wessner Nabb (@wessnerxixbx6) June 02, 2012
sorry about the weight loss stuff my account was hacked =(—
Joel Robinson (@kagedrgn) June 02, 2012
This appears to be a major security breach. What can Twitter users do to protect themselves? Is Twitter doing anything about it?
Twitter’s safety page hasn’t been updated in more than two weeks, but these anti-phishing tips probably are relevant and helpful:
Read up on staying safe from phishing: support.twitter.com/articles/76036…. We'll occasionally RT info about phishing attacks off-Twitter too.—
Safety (@safety) May 03, 2012
