The new Pictionary-style "Draw Something" app has become an instant hit, so, naturally, online crooks are leveraging its popularity to try to trick users into filling out surveys and handing over personal information.
Researchers at the security company Sophos report spotting several Twitter accounts offering "5000 prizes to lucky Draw Something fans." Tweets from the accounts — one is called @Tawandauvw, another is @Timikafva — say, "You have been chosen! Claim Your Prize" or "You’re a lucky Prize Winner," followed by a link that takes users to a website called drawsomethingwinner.com.
This site says, ""Congratulations Draw Something Fan. You've Been Randomly Selected!" and asks participants to answer three basic questions, after which they will win a "FREE Gift worth over $500."
"What you will discover, however, is that you are taken to an all-too-familiar survey scam," Sophos' senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, wrote. "Your chances of ever receiving a prize are remote — chances are that you will either end up handing over personal information or will be helping the original scammer earn commission."
SecurityNewsDaily followed the trail to the supposed prize; the Drawsomethingwinner.com site contains a serious of redirects offering several different prizes, and ultimately lands users on a page that asks them to input their email address.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request by SecurityNewsDaily for comment.
Keep your personal information and your computer safe: Ignore online surveys and exercise caution when you come across links on Twitter or Facebook from accounts you aren't familiar with, whether you're using your home computer or your smartphone. And remember, if an offer appearing online promises a prize or anything "free" or "exclusive," chances are it's a ploy to trap you. Take a look at this step-by-step guide to setting your smartphone's social privacy settings; it can help keep you on safe ground in the murky waters of mobile threats.