Depending on the number of functions, a tool can cost as much as $2,000 (1,520 EUR)

May 5, 2012 09:55 GMT  ·  By

Social media websites utilized by many Internet users are a great medium for cybercriminals to spread their malicious campaigns. Such is the case of Pinterest, which has recently become a heaven for spammers and other types of fraudsters.

Experts from Websense have come across a number of application toolkits, priced between $25 (19 EUR) and $2,000 (1,520 EUR), that can be used by cybercrooks to promote their schemes.

An example provided by the researchers shows a spamming toolkit that allows someone to create automatic likes for pins. Another tool is used to seek out popular pins and re-submit them on the spammer’s account.

“Websense researchers found many similar tools for sale, all of which generate unnatural traffic to the spammer's account in order to increase the popularity of a site or brand. Of course, Pinterest may notice or be informed of the unusual traffic and block the account,” the experts said.

On the other hand, they warn that such tools can always hide pieces of malware that can be used against the spammer.