Porn websites rampantly using Twitter to promote themselves. Unsuspecting users are being led to adult websites
Porn websites rampantly using Twitter to promote themselves. Unsuspecting users are being led to adult websites
If you spot a dirtysimba99 or a sportslover14 among your list of followers on Twitter, don't be surprised.
If the popular blogging website can bring you closer to the high thoughts of Shashi Tharoor, it can also lead you to the not-so-desired pornographic underbelly of the virtual world.
After targeting unsuspecting netizens on chatrooms and social networking sites like Orkut, and Facebook, adult websites have now shifted to Twitter.
Latest porn target
Twenty-three-year old Akshay Verma, who has an auto-following Twitter account, was surprised when he recently spotted a scantily clad girl's profile in the list of people following him. Verma, working with a Gurgaon-based call centre, became inquisitive about the girl whose profile photograph clicked on a bed was on the verge of being obscene.
When Verma clicked on the link provided below her profile, dirtysimba99, who he saw was following over 550 people, he was led to an adult friend-finder website.
"Initially, I was shocked to see such a girl's profileu00a0 in my list. I was curious to know more about her. But her profile led me to an adult site. Till now, virtual porn sellers were targeting people through chat rooms and in some cases the Yahoo Messenger service. But now they have started targeting people on Twitter as well.u00a0 This is a new trend," said Verma. And Verma is not alone.
Yuvraj Negi faced a similar situation couple of weeks ago. He received an email saying, 'sportslover14 is following you on Twitter.' He logged into his Twitter account and clicked on the said profile. The profile led him to a porn website. It said: "I just uploaded my photos (prove you are above eighteen by registering). Click to see." The person behind the profile was allegedly following over 150 profiles from various backgrounds.
"I sensed something was amiss with the profile but went ahead out of curiosity. Initially, I feared it to be an Internet virus. But it was an adult friend-finder site called hornymatches.com. I removed the follower from my list," said Negi.
Easy to Tweet
Interestingly, what makes Twitter more attractive to promote pornographic sites is its simplicity and mass user base.
In most Twitter profiles there are no restrictions on following fellow Twitter members. Once you start following a person, you receive every update about the person's action on the website and you can reply to every tweet he or she posts. An intruder can easily post a porn link as a tweet and it will automatically be visible to all members in his profile.
Security fearThe trend has security experts worried. Delhi-based cyber security expert Vivek Vohra said, "The porn industry is cashing in on the popularity of micro blogging websites. Adult websites hacking into bloggers' profiles is a common problem. As Twitter is a very popular blogging website, porn sites have started tweeting their links to popularise themselves. After Orkut and Facebook, Twitter has become the latest marketing tool in their kitty. Also, compared to other social networking websites, it is easy to enter a profile on Twitter. Twitter users should be careful about malicious tweets. A suspicious link may lead to a porn site but may also connect to a malicious website that may lead to the hacking of your account."
