A host of malicious links have taken to Twitter this morning, in the form of a site with a domain name similar to Google’s. The site has been inundated with “goo.gl/R7f68” hyperlinks that are sending users straight into malware territory.
Worse is that these links aren’t only being posted by spam accounts but by authentic ones as well, meaning that a virus is spreading to (and then via) user profiles. It’s been attacking Twitter for roughly six hours.
The Next Web was able to trace the virus back to a French furniture website that was hacked and is being used to distribute the malware. The site also points out another suspicious link that’s begun appearing on Twitter, which reads, “Just found the easiest way to track who follows and unfollows you – http://goo.gl/kLE5M.” We did a quick search on Twitter on the second shady link and it looks like it’s also tied to genuine user accounts and appears in updates identically. Not to mention it sounds a little too similar to the scam Facebook experienced last week.
If you’ve already clicked on either of the links, go to Twitter and restrict your followers access to prevent spreading the virus further. If not, be extra cautious about any goo.gl links out there.
