14 DAY TRIAL // Security researchers from Trend Micro warn that a survey scam is spreading on Twitter by tricking users into retweeting messages that falsely advertise free gift vouchers.
With the holiday season quickly approaching, a lot of people are looking for any deals and offers that can help them keep shopping expenses at the minimum.
Unfortunately, as usual, the Internet scammers and spammers are just around the corner to take advantage of that.
History has repeatedly shown that the highest levels of cyber criminal activity are registered around this time of the year, so users should be extra vigilant.
Last month, Google said that a spike in the number of email-borne viruses detected during the third quarter was likely caused by hackers building up their spam botnets for use during the holidays.
This latest Twitter scam is launched from accounts created specifically for this purpose, some of which managed to gather hundreds of followers by posting fake messages about free Amazon vouchers.
"Join us and make your Christmas Shopping absolutely free! RT to win a gift! [url]" or "#amazonvoucher Today our members earned 10 Vouchers. Happy Free Shopping! RT to #win. [url]," are some of the messages used to lure users to an external site.
"The shortened URL leads to a website (http://{BLOCKED}voucher.net) that entices users to complete surveys and refer their friends to the site to earn points," the Trend Micro researchers warn.
"The points they would supposedly earn depend on the difficulty and language of the survey. However, the survey site is not related to any of the legitimate sites that are mentioned on their page," they explain.
These surveys are part of affiliate marketing schemes which repay spammers for driving traffic to their sites. They usually try to trick people into signing up for premium rate services.
Users are advised to exercise caution when dealing with online offers, especially during this period of the year. Thoroughly checking the legitimacy of companies before sharing any personal or financial information with them, is a must.