Online predators have hit on social media site Twitter as the latest tool to lure victims into get-rich-quick and work-at-home schemes, according to the Better Business Bureau.
After tracking years of scams involving e-mail and Google, the bureau is seeing a surge in the number of companies claiming to help people turn Twitter into a virtual ATM with little effort and no risk, said spokeswoman Alison Southwick.
"Twitter is the cool thing, the bright, shiny object," she said Monday. "It's unbelievable how widespread this is. And with so many people vulnerable and looking for jobs, a scheme like this is going to have people falling for it when they can least afford to."
The messaging site allows participants to post, or "tweet," short updates that subscribers, or "followers," can read.
Recent schemes involve companies promising to pay Twitter users hundreds of dollars a day to tweet after they sign up for a free training kit, which the bureau said ends up sucking away a hefty monthly payment.
The bureau said some companies have a presence on Twitter itself, but all of them use e-mail and websites to attract customers.
Twitter Inc. did not respond to requests for comment.
The bureau, based in Washington, warns job seekers to be wary of claims that they can earn substantial paychecks simply by tweeting from home. Websites asking for money upfront for a tweeting "position" should also be avoided, the bureau said.
One company, EasyTweet Profits.com, believed to be based in Surrey, England, claims that "Twitter workers" can earn up to $873 "before you go to bed tonight."
No manager could be reached for comment.
The bureau discovered the website by linking to it through an e-mail that pledged "a large following with Twitter" and "hundreds of paying, repeat customers." The message suggests that tweeting for cash has been featured in a slew of media outlets and that the practice earned one person $390,746 in a year.
The website, which features a punchy design and variations on Twitter's blue bird logo, advertises a free weeklong trial of the company's instructional "Twitter Home Business Kit." Customers are asked to provide a credit card number to cover a nominal shipping fee for the compact disc, which presumably trains job hunters to tweet for money, the bureau said.
