I’ve found that, on Twitter, I’ve been befriended by people who claim to be either well-known (like Barack Obama) or people I know. Problem is, they are fake profiles. Even the Dalai Lama had his profile faked. Often, the only thing that’s changed is the addition of an underscore or a middle initial.
Two reasons why this is a problem:
1) They may phish me at some point by responding to my Tweets, for example, and then asking for info I would only provide to people I trust.
2) They may be legitimized by being followers or being followed by others not wise to their scheming. So, when someone else sees that these scammers are friends with someone they know, that third person may be fooled into befriending the scammer.
This whole development reminds me of the AOL chatrooms and instant message clients from the last century where random scammers would overrun the services and try to defraud you. It drove me, and perhaps others, into services that were more secure.
Twitter needs to nip this in the bud before it gets out of control.
{ 2 comments }
Yes, this is a big problem. I am followed by 2 Darren Rowses! One DarrenORowse and other DarrenARowse.
When I first got the mail “Darren Rowse is following you on Twitter”, I was excited and surprised. But soon I figured that they were spammer.
That has happened to me a couple times too. Usually by the time I click on their link, they have been banned.
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