What's really going on: The link downloads a "bot" (software robot), adding your computer to a botnet of "zombies" that scammers use to send spam e-mail to others.
The big Picture: scammers are taking advantage of URL-shrtening service that allow Twitter users to share links that would otherwisw be longer than the 140-character maximum for a tweet. These legitimet services break down a huge URLto ten 15 characters. But when users can't see the actual URL, it's easy for bad guys to post malicious links.
Avoidance manoeuvre: Before clicking on a Twiiter link from a follower you don't know, check out his profile, says Josh George, a website entrepreneur in Vancouver, Washington, who follows online scams. "If he's following hundreds of thousands of people and nobody is following him, IT'S A BOT," he says.
