Spam attack hits Snapchat

Spammers this week attacked smartphone messaging platform Snapchat, with users getting photos from "scantily clad women" inviting them to join a Skype conversation.

 

In a blog post, Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel apologized for the spam attack, which he said prompted them to temporarily disallow the creation of new accounts.

 

"Upon initial investigation, it appears that an individual created multiple accounts and sent snaps to Snapchatters with public accounts," he said.

 

He said Snapchat's engineering team responded quickly by temporarily disallowing new account creation.

 

They also prevented Snapchatters "from receiving snaps from friends that they had not previously added on Snapchat."

 

"In the meantime, please adjust your settings to determine who can send you snaps. For a spam-free experience we recommend 'Only My Friends' :)," Spiegel said.

 

Snapchat is popular among young people as it allows them to exchange messages or pictures that can self-destruct, depending on settings selected by the users.

 

However, security vendor Sophos said the service has also gained controversy as some use it for "sexting" and sharing naked pictures that can self-destruct after a predetermined time.

 

"What isn't in doubt, however, is that Snapchat has become immensely popular - particularly among young people," Sophos said.

 

Sophos said the spam attack had messages urging recipients to connect with the "apparent sexy senders" on Skype.

 

But it said once a user makes the supposed sexy girl a Skype friend, she send malicious links with the promise of a webcam chat, or send spammy links to a dating website.

 

Worse, it said she could "make automated Skype calls to spread fake anti-virus warnings."

 

"In some of the more eyebrow-raising situations she might enter into a steamy webcam conversations with you, where she strips and encourages you to do the same... only to take photos and video footage for the purposes of blackmail," Sophos warned. — TJD, GMA News