A warning for anyone who actively uses Twitter or Facebook: watch out for potential phishing schemes. 

For quite some time, we have been warning consumers about how to avoid phishing attempts via e-mails and bogus websites. 

Now the warning is being extended to users of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The rise of so many people using twtter and facebook has also led to con artists using these sites to set up phishing attacks.

Here is how they catch their victims: 

Hackers set up a fake account, follow a legitimate user, and then they wait until the user is notified by Twitter or Facebook, that they have a new follower. 

However, when the user clicks on the profile page for this new follower, they are linked to a fake site that attempts to steal user names, passwords or other personal information. 

This information can then be used to create other phishing attempts, via the users account.
  
To avoid falling victim to this type of phishing attack:

• Use caution before clicking on links sent from people you do not know. 

• Before clicking on a link, pay close attention to subject or the address listed.   

Instead of clicking on the link, you may want to visit an address that you have used in the past and that you know is legitimate.

• To avoid having other accounts hacked, do not use the same user name and password for other accounts.

If you suspect that you are being targeted by a phishing attack, notify the social networking site, and us-cert.gov.