Twitter Private Messages: What Scammers Want
Twitter has 330 million active users every month, opportunity for scammers to also come in the game and take advantage of a plethora of naive people. In a similar way they operate on Instagram or Facebook, criminals approach victims who accepted their friendship and pretend to offer some sort of help.
This most recent scam takes advantage of one of our greatest vulnerabilities: the fear of being publicly humiliated.
Scam Detectors Most Trusted Websites in Online Security
- Guard.io (100): Surf the web safely. Clean up your browser, remove maliscious extensions and check for privacy violations.
- Incogni.com (100): Delete your personal data from the internet and protect against scams and identity theft.
- ExpressVPNÂ (100) Stay secure and anonymous online - Best VPN Out There
This scam involves receiving a private message to your Twitter account. The body of the message will usually contain one of the following messages:
Did you see your pics with her?
Is it you in this picture?
Suspiciuos activity on your account
ROLF they were taping you
How did you not see them taping u
What are you doing in this fb vid?
What on earth are you doing in this movie?
Once the victim clicks on the link, which appears to go to a legitimate Facebook page, they are greeted with a video player and a message indicating an update to YouTube needs to be done before the video can be viewed.
Once the download begins, the victim won't be receiving an updated version of Flash; they will be getting a virus instead.
Twitter Private Messages: How To Avoid
The first and most logical step is to block the sender from your Twitter account and then send Twitter a report about receiving malware or other spam.
If your account is being used to send these messages to others, your account has been hacked and you need to take immediate measures to reset your password and revoke connections to third-party applications.
Twitter also has some great information to avoid phishing scams as well as tips to help prevent your account from falling prey to a hacker on their Safe Tweeting page. Twitter is a fun way to stay connected; just be aware of suspicious messages and you can tweet happily and safely.
Unsolicited Private Messages Scam: How To Report
Make your family and friends aware of this scam by sharing it on social media. You can also officially report the questionable profiles to Twitter using the link below:
Report To Twitter HereVerify a website below
Are you just about to make a purchase online? See if the website is legit with our validator:
vldtr®
TOP 4 MUST-WATCH FRAUD PREVENTION VIDEOS
1. Top 5 Amazon Scams in 2024 2. Top 5 PayPal Scams in 2024 3. How To Spot a Scam Email in 2024
- Latest Posts by Selma Hrynchuk
-
Compromised Credit Card Scam
- -
Fake Google Chrome Update
- -
Facebook Privacy Notice Hoax
- All Posts
Twitter love scam: This young (32) woman contacts me with a private message. I’m 52, balding, lonely and not ashamed of it. Yet she came on strong trying to convince me she "loved" me. She convinced me to give her my cell #. We only texted, she never called. She said she lived in Nashville, TN while her phone number has a Los Angeles area code. She said she is an "orphan" and moved to TN when her parents died to live with her aunt. Her name is "Mary Sparkman" and I really thought she cared. She claims to be a "good girl", but all of her pictures are of a scantily dresses girl. She claimed to also be Catholic, but only after I mentioned I myself am. Today she tells me her birthday is Jan 15, but she wants a gift card now. I’m unemployed and told her. She said it’s okay if I give her her card, but then kept going on about it.
She sends me more pictures to "motivate me". Like a Pavlov’s Dog I happily obliged. I bought her a $50 iTunes card at Target. I had to scratch to get the code, so I never thought the cards was bad. She asks me to send her a picture of the code, because that’s all she needed. Every time I asked her what her part of town looked like, she avoided the subject, refusing to give me any data. Soon after I gave her the card she starts claiming that the card doesn’t work. At this point I was suspecting she lied and just wants for me to get more money for her. I am a moron with women. I usually just avoid them respectfully, but this PREDATOR just came on strong. Twitter@MarySparkman13, SUE me if I’m wrong about you!
I received a private message from Willie Nelson’s official Twitter page, posing as Willie. It went from there?
Being new to Twitter, I believed all the msgs that I received.
He / they asked for my phone number that I gave out because it was said to be easier.
I’m not a stupid woman but I suddenly clued in to a couple things that seemed off and I put the phone number into Google
513-463-7010 and tons of numbers like that come up, stating it was OHIO
One page said it was an unsafe number?
I challenged them on who’s number they’re using etc… and they’re still insisting it’s the one and only Willie Nelson??
I guess I should of asked myself why would Willie be writing a fan over 200 msgs?
What is the purpose that a scammer would do this and what caution can I take in this situation?
Thank you
Sandra Conners
Could they be checking into my private msgs and banking or credit cards etc… ?
It makes me feel very ill inside.
I was scammed for over $17,500 dollars. I need help. Do I contact the FBI? HomeLandSecurity?
Yes i agree twitter needs to sort this problem out
My twitter account is being bombared with DM scams claiming to be celebs. Its becoming very annoying and dishearting. A few months ago i had a well known celeb come onto me with DM messages. While one could have been flattered the experience unerved me totally. Given the tradgic circumstances in this celebs personal life ( and unknown to the scamer) i had the same tradgic circumstancez happen in my family. It litterly freaked me out. When i challenged it they forwarded me their cell number well one where their PA would pick up and direct them through if i dialed it. It was far from a funny experience and i contacted twitter to ask about this perticular account and was asured this account did not violate twitters terms and conditions
I did not know what to think after this? where they applying the this scam account was after all comming from the persons genuine account? I dont know? i just know i saved the full conversation between us as a reminder that this is what takes place with twitter accounts. I have since locked my account. I still most of the time recieve DM messages. Example if i start to follow a celeb account i am normally hit with ‘ Hi there how are you today? or " How long have you been a fan? I dont think twitter properly understands the escalation of these problems arising because its happening to often. The conversation i saved showed up on google search to be that of the same IP address as the genuine account of celeb. I dont know how they do it. But an experience that has clearly stayed with me
Name: George Alabi..Country: Nigeria, State: Lagos, City: Ikorodu, Zipcode :23401……that’s the info again
She or fuck a 93 old man need money so they took 45. But went on twitter tell them and hell no. They did not listen so i might need delete it but if i do that i lose everything. So i dont know plus if i did that then that she will bug me on gmail and phone. So what yoy all think i shoukd
@stopscammerscom is this scam ? [email protected] sends direct message? She has past records
This has happened to me twice on my twitter account. It seams like it is caused by third party apps are sending messages on behalf of me. I have now changed pwd and removed all third party apps.