Seems there is a Twitter Invitation Email that was popular a few months ago but is still going around. If you are reading this post I assume you got the Twitter invitation email and were thinking about clicking the “Accept Invitation” button. Well DO NOT click it.
From what I can tell it seems the email will execute a malware downloader onto your computer. While the Twitter Invitation email looks legitimate as it seems to have been sent from Twitter, it definitely was not . Think about this for a second, why would need a Twitter Invite if you are already on Twitter? Yeah, doesn't make any sense.
I can see why people would be fooled by this Twitter invitation email though. It is simple and the spammer someone found an exploit to send these emails using Twitter's domain name. This obviously creates trust for anyone who uses Twitter or likes the microblogging and social media service. You might say to yourself, “Well it was look suspicious but was sent from Twitter.” That's where trouble starts and how you get malware or spyware onto your computer though.
If you got the Twitter invitation email or know someone who has, it is best to not open the email at all and please remember to delete it or better yet mark it as ‘Spam.' That way your email provider or service will monitor other similar emails and someone else will not accidentally download malware onto their computer.
One of the best constructed spam emails I have seen was this Apply Verify Your Account phishing scam. The spammer who made up that email must have put a lot of time into that phishing scam. I know people are still receiving that Apple phising email as the article still gets decent traffic everyday of the week. Guess whoever it is still thinks it will work on some people.
If you go this Twitter Invitation email, what were initial reactions? Did you think it was legitimate at first or immediately know something was suspicious?
UPDATE 11-7-13: Just got another one of these Twitter Invitations emails this morning. It was from ‘Christopher Meloni' though and not Mohan Raj. I guess the spammer thinks using an actor's name will make more people open the email and download the malware.
UPDATE 2-12-14: I've gotten a few other Twitter Invitation emails but this time the sender is Lucia M Tellez. Spammers don't know when to stop I guess.
My email had my name along with a nickname that one of my friends calls me by as the contact sent to, yet the email was sent to me by an Andrian (note- the only Adrian I know is my cousin who I haven’t seen in recent years and he has NEVER called me by or even heard that nickname) and there is no prophile picture. Is there a way for me to check out who this person is? My friend hasn’t contacted me back after I tried contacting her.
I’ve had a similar issue like Miki’s Any thoughts?
Thanks for the information. As you said, it looks legitimate as it “comes” from Twitter. Even with a Mac, I am very careful what I download. I appreciate the warning!
No problem Matt. Always good to be aware of these types of emails no matter what operating system you use.