Twitter scam hits Draw Something players

29 Mar 2012

Draw Something, the popular gaming app played by 3,000 people per second, has been hit by a new scam on Twitter, where users are being told they have won a prize but in reality are being duped into handing over personal information.

The success of Draw Something by OMGPOP has been nothing short of extraordinary. The Pictionary-style game lets users guess what their friends are drawing via web-connected devices and lets them challenge one another.

The success of Draw Something contributed to Zynga’s decision to buy its creator, social games firm OMGPOP for US$210m in recent weeks.

According to Sophos security researcher Graham Cluley, a Twitter account unaffiliated with OMGPOP contacts Twitter users who have mentioned Draw Something in their tweets and tells them they have won a prize.

But don’t be fooled – it is just another web scam aimed at social engineering information out of users in order to perform identity fraud.

“The Twitter account, which is not affiliated with OMGPOP, claims it is giving away 5,000 prizes to ‘lucky’ Draw Something fans, and that players can claim their award by visiting a newly created website called drawsomethingwinner.com,” Cluley explained.

“What you will discover, however, is that you are taken to an all-too-familiar survey scam. Your chances of ever receiving a prize are remote – chances are that you will either end up handing over personal information, or will be helping the original scammer earn commission,” Cluley warned.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com