What is twishing? Why it is dangerous?

Gone Twishing

They can usually be found lurking in your inbox in a direct message from someone you follow, containing deliberately intriguing statements designed to make you click on a link.
It’s an attempt to get hold of your personal information by stealth – impersonating a trustworthy source in order to obtain information either for the purpose of fraud or to cause inconvenience. Using Twitter messages is just an update on ‘phishing’ emails pretending to come from banks, asking you for your private details.
In the case of Twitter, ‘twishing’ – as it’s become known – occurs when a victim clicks on one of these infected links in a direct message from someone they follow, or a tweet from anyone. The links often take the victim to a site that looks like Twitter but is actually run by fraudsters, and asks them to submit their log-in details and password.

The fraudsters can then post messages or tweets from the victim’s account in the hope of luring more people into the same trap, or access other websites that they may use the same password for.
No one is safe from these ‘twishing’ messages, it seems. In 2009, one scam alone reportedly caught 13,000 users who clicked on a link that promised them more followers. The same year, 33 high-profile accounts were affected in the same way after the account of an administrator at Twitter was reportedly compromised.
If you or whoever manages your business or personal account takes the twishing bait, the impact on your social media credibility can be serious. No one wants to seem so naive or to put their followers at risk, so whatever you do, avoid clicking on links in messages that look at all suspicious and insist that others in your business with access to the corporate account, or who manage yours, follow this defensive protocol.
If you find you have been hacked, take steps to sort it out right away. Change your password for Twitter, and if you use the same password elsewhere change it now too. Delete any fake messages or tweets sent from your account and send a message out to your contacts warning them not to open them.
You might also want to review which applications on your computer or smart phone have access to your twitter account, to make sure that you’re happy with your privacy settings. You can do this by going to your settings and clicking on the ‘applications’ tab.
Don’t wait to get hooked by a twishing scam before you take your online security seriously.

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