An official automated Twitter account TopTweets sends sex link spam

Spam tweets that offer links to a sex dating service were recently sent by an official Twitter account, according to the finding of security researchers.

F-Secure reported that somehow two spam accounts, SkypeCamGirls and CamGirlTrenity, managed to have their spam message taken by Twitter's @TopTweets account. Then TopTweets, which is an automated account that uses an algorithm to identify and retweet popular and interesting tweets on the micro-blogging service, helped spread the spam with links to such sites as Getiton.com (a site that helps you find your "perfect sexual match") and Camsexroulette.net (a person-to-person Webcam service for voyeurs and exhibitionists).

While the spam accounts have since been suspended it remains unclear if they were able to game Twitter's TopTweets algorithm or if the spam accounts used some form of malware to manipulate the micro-blogging service. TopTweets typically retweets messages that have been distributed by at least 100 people or more.

Interestingly, the spam accounts included some warning for users - a Not Safe For Work (NSFW) hashtag at the end of their tweets. However, at least some people on Twitter were into it since nearly 15,000 clicks were sent to the two dirty sites from the bit.ly links being pimped on Twitter.