“You have 1 message from Twitter Administration” Spam

Have you seen the following message? It is a new fake Twitter administrator spam message that is being circulated.

A new social engineering trick involves using Twitter-like emails to encourage users to click on links. The link, of course, doesn’t go where it claims to go. You’ll only find out where that link is really going if you click on it or hover your mouse over the link.

Similar to other phishing schemes, the Twitter Administration email contains the same characteristics as the IRS, UPS and FedEx emails. Through leveraging inherent business needs or anxiety, the email grabs attention and encourages users to click on links pointing to spammy or infected sites.

In this case the link points to a webpage selling pharmaceutical drugs such as Viagra and Cialis.

spam site

Either way, it is a timely reminder to never click on links found in emails unless you are absolutely sure who sent them and that they are trustworthy and not using a compromised computer themselves.

Ranjeet Menon