From Cyprus Police:

Theft of personal data (Twishing)

Fraudsters can steal your personal data from social media. These can help them access your bank accounts, 
make loans or take other illegal actions on your behalf, or sell to other fraudsters. 

How does it work; 
You may have your social networking account as "private" and insured, or even be careful with the information 
you share through the profiles you maintain (eg photos, videos, status updates, etc.). However, fraudsters use 
various methods to trick you and share personal information (such as name, email, codes or bank card number,
 etc.). This information can then be used to intercept your identity information. 

Your personal information can help cheaters: 

-  Make unauthorized transactions with your card or gain access to your phone contract or other accounts. 
-  Securing a loan 
-  Selling other personal data to other scammers  
-  Illegal actions using your name

Many scammers use classical methods such as: -  Twishing (a combination of Twitter and phishing): is the 
method by which a message is sent to a Twitter user through which they are asked to follow a link to a website. 

If the user enters the fraudster's site, then the fraudster gains access to account information such as name and 
password. 

-  Who saw your profile on social media? Such a service will ask you to grant access to your profile. Then, they
 will ask you to engage in a fraudulent investigation and share your personal data. The fraudster earns 
commission whenever someone completes such research, while you will never know who really saw your profile.

-  "Are you in this video?" By clicking on such a link you will be taken to a page that searches for the financial 
benefit of the fraudster. It is also possible for your device to be infected by some malware. 

-  "Your account has been canceled", "confirm your email account". Such frauds with the above mentioned 
messages are intended to gain access to your personal data or the codes you have for an account. 

-  Scams with gift cards and fake offers from well-known stores or well-known brands. These kinds of scams 
are aimed at securing personal information or assisting someone in expensive services. They take a different 
form each month and sound very good to be true. In fact, the product or service being displayed is never delivered
to the customer. 

-  Miraculous product, free trial! These online frauds use free trial methods, false approvals, and surveys to fool 
the public and lure it to pay for products or subscribe for which the public does not even know it pays (eg shipping 
and handling costs). .a.).

- "He's got a lot of money working from home." Any job that requires an initial amount to start working for it is 
suspected as a fraud. Such ads usually appear on social media and lead to a bid being charged, on the pretext 
that you are a prerequisite to starting the alleged work with a lot of money. You may be asked to submit 
many personal information, including your tax ID, copies of your passport or driving license. In fact, some of these
 "operations" are likely to cover money laundering by asking for payments to your bank account by taking a 
commission and then transferring the money to a foreign company. Therefore,money mule ) for criminals, which is 
of course illegal. 

-  Help, I'm stuck! Someone pretending to be a relative or acquaintance says he has an immediate financial need 
and communicates with you mainly through social networking. The fraudster will pretend to be in a particularly 
difficult position and will ask for money. In addition to social media, such communications can be made by phone,
email, or sms. 

What can you do; 

- At  any time you want to verify your account information on a social media, go directly to the company's official website. Do not trust the link that is supposed to refer to an official website. 

-  See the security settings again on any social media you are using. Take your time to fully understand exactly what 
you are publicly viewing through your profile. 

-  Do your research on the web. Look for the name of the product or job you offer and see what other people 
say about them. You can combine important keywords such as: review, complaints, or fraud in your search. 

-  Report on profiles that appear to be suspected of reporting on your social media platforms. If they are 
following you or are online friends, please confirm that you have blocked them and expect to see any reaction. 

-  Regularly look at your card account statements. If you notice charges for something you did not order, contact 
your bank or your card provider.