Jan 21, 2011 11:32 GMT  ·  By

Security researchers warn that waves of spam messages offering free iPhones and iPads have been flooding Twitter recently and lead users to various online scams.

According to the GFI Software researchers who analyzed the attacks, the spam messages appear to be sent from both fake and compromised accounts.

At their peak, the spam messages were coming in at a rate of over 1,300 per hour and read "want to find out how to get a free iphone? [link]" or "I just won a free iphone and ipad! [link]."

Some of the rogue links are displayed in full, while others are shortened via bit.ly. Fortunately, because some were shortened multiple times, the service is filtering them.

Trying to visit one such link returns an error reading "The link you requested may contain inappropriate content, or even spam or malicious code that could be downloaded to your computer without your consent, or may be a forgery or imitation of another website, designed to trick users into sharing personal or financial information."

However, the links that still work, take users to pages inviting them to a trial program, which involves testing an iPhone and getting to keep it.

In order to sign up for the alleged program, the site asks users to disclose their email address and respond to ten questions about themselves. The information gathered in this way will most likely later be used for targeted advertising.

But, even if a misguided user was to do all this, they still wouldn't get an iPhone. Instead, they would be asked to complete one of several "offers" that involves them signing up for a subscription-based service.

The free iPhone lure is commonly used in scams on social networking sites, which suggests that people find it very attractive. Unfortunately, the old saying "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is," applies to such promises.