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 3, 2012
https://twitter.com/ruggsafharm2/status/209264906376192000
My account was hacked with weight loss tweets–Sorry everyone–I teach Hip The Hoopla hoop dance & happy humorous health-not gimmicks.
— Che' Rippinger-HTH (@hipthehoopla) June 3, 2012
https://twitter.com/Linkermusic/status/209062574564712448
https://twitter.com/debrondeau/status/209037097749848064
Yeh soz, my account was hacked. I wasn't giving you weight loss advice, you fat bastards.
— Scott Patterson (@R_o_M) June 2, 2012
https://twitter.com/wessnerxixbx6/status/208930072898441216
https://twitter.com/kagedrgn/status/208746765506195457
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: https://t.co/KXU4kuEC. We'll occasionally RT info about phishing attacks off-Twitter too.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) May 3, 2012
Join the conversation as a VIP Member