Twitter phishing hit, as spam infiltrates 90% of all emails

Peter Dinham
Thursday, 11 June 2009 14:03

Business IT - Security

In a second Twitter-related spam attack during May, Symantec says Twitter dating site Datetwit was targeted, with various recently registered spam domains used in the links, and leading users to enter Twitter credentials to open the dating site.

In an attempt to evade anti-spam filters, says Symantec, email messages were obfuscated with legitimate content, and it makes the point that with these attacks, spammers hope that they can lure recipients into action by hiding behind the reputation of the Twitter social networking brand.

As for the US auto market, Symantec says that spam messages claiming to come from a particular motor company mention falling sales due to the economic downturn and includes details about how the United States government plans to bail them out.

According to Symantec, since the supposed bailout funds had yet to reach the auto manufacturers, the spam message – squarely aimed at consumers looking to buy a new vehicle - had indicated that the companies were offering 1,000 automobiles discounted at 35 percent off the original price.

The poor sucker getting this apparently great offer was told that the sale would help the company bounce back and increase their customer base, and they were instructed to fill out and submit an attached form to take advantage of the offer, with a company representative to visit them within five business days after receiving the form!