You received a suspicious DM (direct message) that directs you to a dangerous website with sweet words like "You won our RT campaign! Have you ever received a suspicious DM (direct message) that leads you to a dangerous website with such sweet words as "Click here to receive a gift"?
Fake accounts are common these days. If you click on the URL without knowing if it is real or not, it is dangerous! Here are some tips on how to recognize a fake spoofed account!
Contents
A suspicious message arrives one day out of the blue...
これはNoiseAndKissesを装った偽アカウントが送ってきたメッセージ。妙な丁寧語に違和感を感じる文章ですが、気にしなければ偽アカウントだと気がつけないかもしれません。
Up until a few years ago, spam messages were suspiciously written in wrong Japanese, but recently the quality has become uncomfortable.
Why did I receive a spoofed DM?
Perhaps you recently entered a retweet campaign or a giveaway?
ほとんどの場合、なりすましの偽アカウントが作られる対象はRTプレゼントキャンペーンを行なっているアカウントIt is.
These are the "follow me and RT this tweet to participate in the giveaway" type of campaigns conducted by corporate and store accounts.
参加している人は「当選しました」「クーポンを配布中です」と言われたときに信じやすく、URLをクリックする確率が高まります。そのため、RTキャンペーン中のアカウントを狙って迷惑行為が行われているのです。
It's really annoying to feel bad for just participating in a giveaway! But I don't want to stop entering giveaways! How can I defend myself?
How to recognize a fake spoofed account
個人情報を引き出し悪用する悪質ななりすまし（偽アカウント）の巧妙な手口に騙されないために、共通している特徴*2022年6月時点をチェックして、自衛しよう！
Account name differs from the real one by one or two letters
To spot a fake account, first check the account name!
👇Here is the real NoiseAndKisses account.
👇And here is the spoof account.
The real account is "Nakapparel," while the fake account is "Nakappart," which is hard to tell at first glance because of the one-letter difference.
- Nakappart (with the last two letters different)
- NakappareI (with a capital "i" instead of an "L" at the end)
- Nakappparel (one more p)
and so on. The fake accounts that have been created so far are also quite clever.
Other fake accounts are usually created with one or two different letters, and they can be deceptive at first glance😱.
Account creation date is too recent
Fake accounts created just to send unsolicited messages were of course just created! If you're wondering, "Is this account real?" If you think "Is this account real?", we recommend checking the account creation date.
The number of followers is too small
Another suspicious point is that the number of followers is noticeably lower than that of the real account.
No tweets, only retweets
No tweets at all to begin with! If you look closely, you can see that they are only re-tweeting some tweets from the real account, and there is no indication that they are sending out their own tweets.
The fake account's information is all copied, so it's also impossible to distribute information through new tweets.
The profile is an exact copy of the real account
You might think that it might be a "sub-account" created by the real account to use for other purposes....
However, if it really is a sub-account, "the header image, account name, and profile text are complete copies of the real account" is strange. There should be some changes to be able to determine that it is a sub-account, because it has to show that it is a different account from the real one.
The content of the profile should also be compared to the real account. If the content is completely the same, this is a point to suspect a fake account.
A complete copy of the profile is a fake account. I remember!
Check for alerts on the real account
⚠️ Note ⚠️
- NoiseAndKisses (@NAKapparel) January 5, 2022
Beware of fake accounts!
→directional marker or indicator @NAKappaarel ← Fake.
Please do not click when you receive a message with a link, please help us report and block 🙇🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/9otmQ3zBCy
すでに本物のアカウントの運営が偽アカウントの存在に気がついている場合は、注意喚起のツイートが投稿されているかもしれません。
Twitterのアカウントは1つのみ、他アカウントは偽アカウントです。など予め注意事項を記載して運営しているアカウントもいるみたいね。
I opened a DM from a fake account, what should I do?
If you receive a DM from an unsolicited account or open a DM, there is still no problem! Don't panic and take action.
Do not click on the URL! What if I click on it?
It is important not to click on the URL.
迷惑アカウントは当選やクーポンを口実に掲載されているURLをクリックさせようとしてきます。怪しいと思ったら絶対にURLがクリックしないようにしましょう。
I clicked on the wrong URL! What should I do?
クリックしたからといってすぐにお金を請求されることはありませんThe following is a list of the most common problems with the万が一請求してきた場合にも支払い義務はありませんので、冷静に対応しましょう。
迷惑メッセージのURLをクリックしてしまった場合は速やかにブラウザを閉じましょう。大抵の場合は個人情報やクレジットカード情報を抜き取るために入力を促しますので、何も入力せずに閉じれば問題ありません。
Anyway, it is important not to click on the URL.
Report it to Twitter!
⚠️ Beware of fake accounts ⚠️@nakapparei Please report and block 🙏 They have very similar IDs, but the last letter is different.
- NoiseAndKisses (@NAKapparel) September 10, 2021
Please ignore the suspicious DMs sent to you and do not access the URL: 🙇🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/wHVPsvmxUS
偽アカウントを見つけたら通報＆ブロックがおすすめ。
- ブロックしたいアカウントの右上メニューから@アカウント名 さんを報告するをクリック。
- Click on "Suspicious or spam".をクリック。
- 「偽のアカウントです」をクリック。
- 「ご報告ありがとうございます。」と表示されたら「@アカウント名 さんをブロック」をクリック。これで完了です！
By the way, when choosing a reason to report a problem, "You are impersonating me or another user" is also valid. Since you will need to enter somewhat more detailed information in that case, the above procedure is recommended!
If a certain number of people report & block the account, the account will be frozen due to management regulations.
It is OK to ignore it
Basically, it is OK to ignore unsolicited messages and fake accounts.
If you do not click on the URL or return a follow, nothing will be affected. It would be kind to report & block them to prevent someone else from being tricked or clicking on them.
Summary of how to recognize a fake account
- Messages from unsolicited accounts are more likely to reach you if you're entering a gift campaign.
- The fake account name is 1-2 letters different from the real one
- The account creation date is very recent
- The number of followers and followers is small.
- No tweets, only retweets
- Don't click the URL.
- If you find them, you should report & block them!
If the account is running a popular RT campaign, it can be really annoying to see fake accounts being created over and over again 💦 If you find a strange account, deal with it calmly!
This article summarizes data on unsolicited DMs, fake accounts, and spoofing as of June 2022. It will be updated as soon as the latest information becomes available.
「本物のアカウントかも？」と騙されてしまう方も増えてきてるわね💦