Hi someone is saying terrible things about you…
No, they aren't. And don't click that link! If you've been the perpetrator, it's really easy to fix.
- Change your Twitter password.
- Revoke suspicious or unknown application access.
- Delete the sent direct messages.
Read on for more details.
You're not that popular
This is a popular Twitter “virus” going around. The more people you follow on Twitter, the more of these messages you'll see. I've received literally hundreds (I do mean that “literally”!) of these Twitter direct messages, and they all fall into a basic word spinning pattern:
[Hi / Hey / Hello] [someone / somebody / this user / some person] is [making / posting / saying] [nasty / horrible / really bad / terrible / very bad] [things / rumors] about you… [malicious link]
My personal favorite is, “Hi some person is making nasty things about you.” Filled with glorious grammatical errors.
Each person who clicks this link has most likely thought the message was real, and that there was something terrible about them. Well, there could be something terrible said about you if I listed your name in here!
Fix your Twitter account in 3 steps
The fix for this is quite simple, but absolutely necessary to prevent the spread and further infection of yourself and others.
1. Change your Twitter password
Login to Twitter and change your password here (or Twitter.com > Profile menu > Settings > Password).
Some sites will disguise themselves as Twitter and try to get you to login. Always check the domain carefully before you login (twitter.com.sadlfkjsae.com is not your friend). Using a site-based password manager like LastPass can easily prevent this because it won't offer your password on domains that don't match.
2. Revoke suspicious or unknown application access
Visit your Twitter Apps page (or Twitter.com > Profile menu > Settings > Apps) and click “Revoke access” on any app you don't recognize.
This is a list of apps that you've granted access to your Twitter account. These apps can pull some information about you, tweet or DM for you, and more.
If you accidentally revoke something legitimate, you can undo the action, or simply re-authorize the app through its own settings.
3. Delete the sent direct messages
Go to Twitter.com, click your profile menu, then click Direct messages. Delete any malicious messages that were sent from your account.
Depending on your followers' Twitter clients, they may never receive your accidental malicious message if you delete it before they see it.
What the malicious link does
I don't know and I really don't care. I just know that it's something very bad, and it will spam all your friends. Please kill this virus now!
Technically, you weren't “hacked”
To be hacked, someone has to be hacking you. When you or someone else clicks a malicious link, there isn't a hacker standing by waiting to get into your account. Instead, this is more like a virus or worm activated by an intentional click.
Thus, your Twitter account was compromised, not hacked. That's just my little pet peeve.
Save the world, retweet this
How to fix your hacked Twitter account in 3 steps http://t.co/V52OKiQR
— Daniel J. Lewis (@theDanielJLewis) July 9, 2012
I do not work for Twitter and I am unable to provide free support for your Twitter problems. Please contact Twitter for help.
Thanks, David – this is really helpful. I changed my Twitter password, deleted the offending DM’s, and revoked access by one application. However, clicking revoke access for one other application has no effect. The button never changes to Undo Revoke Access. Any ideas?
It could be the way those apps are configured.
why the direct message cant be deleted and still continue send fake direct message from my account ?
You have to revoke the access to your account (step 2). Otherwise, the malicious app will continue using your account to spam.
ujian nech
hey i got had a message like that but i can’t login now. what can i do ???
i got a message like that and i click it . a few hours i cant open it .. what should i do ? . pls help plss im begging you :'(
You can’t open the message? That’s fine. That indicates that the sender probably deleted it.
The main thing is that you still go through these three steps to ensure you’re not spreading the malicious tweet.
Hey, have you seen any hacks where a bunch of random people RAPIDLY retweet your tweet? they weren’t even followers of my boss’s twitter page. We deleted it, and it stopped, but it’s weird,
That sounds like you used a popular hashtag that was being followed and retweeted by a bunch of bots.
My Twitter account is retweeting random stuff and following random people !!! And Idk what to do anymore !!! I already changed my password !!
Follow the other instructions in this post, especially revoking access to the applications.
And then don’t click on bad links again.
My twitter account has been hacked and my email. Rude and weird text messages are now on my twitter page. Twitter does not remove the messages or let me get acces to my twitter account, altough they say don’t panic we can help you. Yeah right, what can i do now?
Was it hacked, or did you give away the password?
You’ll have to work with your email provider to get your access back.
Hello. I got a virus on my Twitter account. This tweet is keep retweeting as I have! I changed my pw. I couldn’t go to apps from my iPhone or iPad. It says sorry something went wrong. Do I have to do that from a laptop or pc? Please help me. Thank you!
You need to do this from a PC or browser.
Hello & thank you for the steps. Will these steps also stop “fitness” tweets that are posted on my page as if I tweeted them?
If the tweets look like they’re coming from you, then you need to go through this process to revoke the malicious access.
If I deactivate my Twitter for a little while will that help?
Deactivating will only be a temporary solution. You need to go through the above steps.
Hey, mind to help me please? I have a problem, & I cannot fix it, nor can I found a proper solution or post about it (or am I not searching right). So few days ago my twitter started to retweet a number of unfamiliar tweets by lets say aprox 8 different accounts. Sometimes it favourites them too. Now, I have removed retweets & unfavourited them, also blocked those accounts, also unfollowed some recent followed people/sites. Completely cleaned my browser, checked for any spyware, malware, extension whatsoever to find out that it still keeps retweeting tweets from the same accounts, aprox 1 per an hour. Any idea? 🙂
Sounds like you didn’t follow the three steps above.
I believe the key to my problem was the app thing, after rewoking them it has stopped. I didn’t pay attention to those because I’ve thought I don’t have any. I’m sorry for the bother, at the end your guide has helped me, so thank you. I shall be more careful in the future.
Hello Daniel, I had abandoned my twitter account back in 2013 but recently received some mails saying that somebody was trying to access my account, I thought it was a mistake or twitter was trying to get me back on it. Then I entered my account an somebody was posting in Turkish?! Liking and re-tweeting… I Changed my password (reset) and made it to be double verified by code to my phone (no direct messages or apps). He’s still posting. What do I do?
Thank you.
Did you follow all of the steps in my post?
Yes.
Repeat step 2 and revoke access to everything.
Also make sure someone else’s phone number isn’t associated with your account.
Beyond that, you’ll need to get help from Twitter.
A girl told me that she’s logged in my account from her phone and she told me that she didn’t tried to hack me..I did all the steps..and I’ve tried EVERYTHING…and she’s still logged in!What can I do?
Did you really do all of these steps, including changing your password and revoking all access? Do you truly know that she’s logged in?
I don’t work for Twitter, so these tips in my article are the most help I can provide.
hi, ive done all this the app im trying to revoke isn’t showing up, its showing up on my wall as a linked website i think, i removed the link but idk if its still compromised any help?
I’m sorry, I can’t help. You’ll need to contact Twitter support.
Hi Dan,
I am currently a night janitor at the College of William & Mary. And some of the IT students played around with my laptop. Now when I log into my Twitter, I can’t see any tweets but 3 or 4 a day. And I currently follow 1,000 people. My Youtube and Facebook also look distorted. Changed all my passwords, yet problem still exists. Been out of school too long to remember anything worthwhile under the INSPECT ELEMENT tab on websites.
Any advice would help.
I’m sorry. As noted, I cannot provide any support.
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Hi,
My twitter account was hacked and I lost all my tweets, dms and my followers / following. Is there any way I can get all that info back or revert my account to what it was forty eight hours back? Twiiter help is being of no help!
you saved me, thankyou!
When I change password it says old one not recognised my setting’s are different been going on for long time
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