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Network Infrastructure Magazine | Tuesday, March 02, 2021
Since Twitter has a tweet character limit, covering dodgy connections using services like bit.ly to shorten the URL to mask the actual address is also simple for cybercriminals.
FREMONT, CA: When considering phishing scams, one tends to think about email, but many malicious actors target popular social media channels to hook their prey. The key objective is to encourage someone to click on a page, expose logins and passwords or reveal some personal information. The download of malware can be unintentionally caused by victims, downloading keyloggers that record keystrokes and Trojans that send them to cybercriminals. Victims will also insert login information on fake websites or address questions that are posed as valid requests, such as quizzes or enjoyable events.
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Some common scams on the most popular social media platforms include:
Phishing Scams on Facebook
Emails that purport to come from Facebook are mostly submitted by cybercriminals and strongly resemble the look of real emails. Usually, these phishing emails will contain an alarming message indicating that the password has been changed. One has to click on a link or open an attachment to figure it out or risk losing access to the account. The link or attachment, inevitably, triggers malware. But this sort of thing is a standard trick of email phishing that relies on Facebook familiarity and trust.
The platform itself can be used for some of the sneakier phishing attacks. Users may be acquainted with fake accounts deliberately set up by cybercriminals to harvest personal details. Hacked accounts are also used to post malicious links that can lead users to fake login pages. When the victim enters their email address and password, the scammer may have access to their account and personal information, using it to scam all of their friends in a similar way.
Structure of Twitter Phishing
Cybercriminals will also use any profiles they have obtained entry to and send direct messages to certain people's contacts to trick them into clicking links beginning with a phishing email to gather Twitter login information. Since Twitter has a tweet character limit, covering dodgy connections using services like bit.ly to shorten the URL to mask the actual address is also simple for cybercriminals.
Offering thousands of followers, often also targeted demographics that corporations can covet, is another common scam on Twitter. Users can end up at risk of identity fraud if they are convinced to make a purchase. There is still a fair risk that one will be linked with fake accounts, though a user earns more followers, resulting in a ban on Twitter.
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