In Birdy's Eyes:

Tweet Your Way to Identity Theft

If you're a tweeting addict, you may be in danger of identity theft

When it comes to identity theft, there's always something new. The one predictable thing about identity theft is... it's unpredictable. You think you know what identity thieves are up to and then they pop up with some new angle or identity theft scam. Such is the case with social networking sites.

Tweet Carefully!

Thieves are always on the lookout for the newest, easiest, fastest, and best way to get your personal information they can use to steal your identity. So, of course, they haven't overlooked popular social networking sites. One of the most popular sites these days is Twitter, and they are discovering ways they can exploit this fun way to stay in touch with friends.

If you love to tweet, you need to be aware of a few things. One of the most common ways for thieves to steal your identity is with phishing. Most often, phishing is done by sending fraudulent emails. These emails ask you to click on a link that takes you to a site and asked to enter personal information.

The same scenario occurs with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and is now happening on Twitter. Thieves set 'tweet traps'. These traps consist of the thief pretending to be one of your 'friends' tweeting you and telling you about a great sale, a worthy cause, or some news about something you're interested in. You click on the link and directed to a phishing site that collects your personal information.

Avoiding identity theft is easy -- never click on tweets or messages on Facebook that are from 'friends' you aren't familiar with. Only click on tweets and messages from real 'friends' not just people who have signed up for tweet alerts or messages. Most importantly, stay alert. If you receive messages or tweets that seem suspicious, they may be an identity theft trick.