Fake Twitter emails can lead to theft of personal data - SSO-AL2010-027

07 June 2010

Software and platforms affected

The following operating system platforms:

Windows (any version)

What is the problem?

Fake emails posing as messages from Twitter are being widely circulated. These emails have attachments or links to web sites containing malicious software (malware) that is designed to steal personal, confidential and valuable information from computers (identity theft).

The subject of the email may contain wording the same as, or similar to:

Twitter 189-234
New service for Travel Twitter
New service for Sports Twitter
New service for downloading of films twitter

The from line of the email may contain wording the same as, or similar to:

"Twitter" twitter-discover-your=emailaddress@postmaster.twitter.com

The body of the email may contain wording the same as, or similar to:

Hi, your@emailaddress

You have 4 unread message from Twitter

Please click on the link below or copy and paste the URL into your browser:

http://twitter.com/account/=your@emailaddress

The Twitter Team

If you received this message in error and did not sign up for a Twitter account, click not my account.

Please do not reply to this message; it was sent from an unmonitored email address. This message is a service email related to your use of Twitter. For general inquiries or to request support with your Twitter account, please visit us at Twitter Support.

Or

Hi, your@emailaddress

Attention! We detected that someone was trying to steal your Twitter account password.

We strongly recomended you to download our secure module to protect account!

Please click on the link below:

http://twitter.com/Twitter_security_model_setup.zip

The Twitter Team

If you received this message in error and did not sign up for a Twitter account, click not my account.

Please do not reply to this message; it was sent from an unmonitored email address. This message is a service email related to your use of Twitter. For general inquiries or to request support with your Twitter account, please visit us at Twitter Support.

Or

Hi, NAME

You recently changed the email address associated with your Twitter account (@NAME).

New service for Travel Twitter, click this link:

http://twitter.com/account/confirm_email/NAME/2509B-01F4D-801305

Once you confirm, all future email from Twitter will be sent to this address.

The Twitter Team

If you received this message in error and did not sign up for a Twitter account, click not my account.

Please do not reply to this message; it was sent from an unmonitored email address. This message is a service email related to your use of Twitter. For general inquiries or to request support with your Twitter account, please visit us at Twitter Support.

What we recommend you do

If you receive an email similar to the above emails, do not open any attachments or click any links within the email. Delete the email straight away.

If you have already clicked on the attachment or links, it is quite possible your computer may now be infected.  It is recommended you seek professional assistance in helping detect and remove the malware or refer to the SSO factsheets: You suspect your computer is infected with malicious software, part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Make sure you have anti-virus software installed and keep it updated.

Disclaimer

This Alert has been prepared by AusCERT for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

The information is intended for used by home users and small to medium sized businesses and is general information only and not intended as advice and was accurate and up to date at the time of publishing. The material and information in this Alert is not adapted to any particular person's circumstances and therefore cannot be relied upon to be of assistance in any particular case. In any important matter, you should seek professional advice relevant to your own circumstances.

The Commonwealth, AusCERT, and all other persons associated with this Alert accept no responsibility or liability for information either included or referred to in the Alert. No responsibility or liability is accepted for any damage, loss or expense incurred as a result of the information contained in the Alert, whether by way of negligence or otherwise.

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Please note that material in this Alert, as the case may be, includes views or recommendations of third parties, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth, or indicate its commitment to particular course of action. Material on this site or in this Alert may also include information provided by third parties. The Commonwealth cannot verify the accuracy of information that has been provided by third parties.