Hours spent on Twitter? Don’t click on scam spreading virally on Twitter

Another rogue application is spreading between unsuspecting Twitter users, claiming to tell you how many hours you have spent on on the network.

The messages all look pretty similar, and use a currently trending topic such as Richard Dawkins, Cheryl Cole landing the job of a judge on the US edition of “X Factor”, or it being Mother’s Day in the United States.

Richard Dawkins –> I have spent: 23.8 hours on Twitter! See how much you have: [LINK]

#zabecca –> I have spent: 20.9 hours on Twitter! See how much you have: [LINK]

Vidal Sassoon –> I have spent: 33.4 hours on Twitter! See how much you have: [LINK]

<>#5factsaboutmymom –> I have spent: 33.4 hours on Twitter! See how much you have: [LINK]

Even though you may have seen one of your friends tweet out a message like this, you definitely shouldn’t click on the link. It will take you to a rogue third-party application which asks your permission to…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, or drop him an email.