The thing about having many followers on social media websites like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook is that you’ve got to be careful of what you say, because what you say could be read by thousands or millions of people, some of whom could take what you say seriously. This is why it isn’t surprising to see Twitter accounts belonging to famous people get hijacked all the time.In fact according to recent reports, it seems that more than 2,500 Twitter accounts belonging to relatively famous people have been hacked and taken over, and used to help promote adult websites, presumably relying on their plentiful followers to help gain more hits and sign-ups, which apparently would net the hackers $4 per sign up.
This is according to Symantec who notes, “Rather than tweeting or direct-messaging users, the attackers used these compromised accounts to like tweets and follow other users, hoping to capitalize on users being curious enough to investigate their Twitter profiles.” So if an account you’re following starts posting something that is a bit out of the blue for them, maybe you shouldn’t click that link.
In the meantime Symantec also says, “Instead of relying on just a password, consider enabling Twitter’s Login Verification that requires you to enter a code that is sent to your mobile phone. This adds an extra layer of security.”