Twitter, the well known microblogging/social media tool, has become popular with lawyers over the past year. It's used to build professional networks, to share ideas and articles, to expand conference experiences, and according to some, it's even used to find clients. But Twitter's casual atmosphere and relative ease-of-use has led to dangerous (if inevitable) phenomena: Twitter phishing and Twitter spam.

According to a recent MSNBC.com article, the current Twitter scams begin with phishing: innocent users are tricked into entering their Twitter account information into a fake Twitter log in page, effectively handing control of their account to a malicious third party. The usurper then uses the innocent individual's account to send out spam, malware, and more phishing attempts via Twitter's "direct message" (DM) feature.

Unfortunately, many lawyers are falling victim to the scam. In the last few weeks, for example, the LTRC Twitter account (@ltrc) has received dozens of DM spam/phishing messages from lawyers, legal technology vendors, and even major law firms. For lawyers attempting to use Twitter in a professional or client development capacity, the results can be embarrassing and potentially damaging. Colleagues and potential clients won't be thrilled to see your Twitter name flooding their inboxes with spam, and they'll be even less happy if spam from your account leads to compromised security on their end.

So what can you do to protect yourself?

• Be wary of general, impersonal direct messages. Is someone telling you to check out their website, a funny link, or to take a quiz? Does it say something like: "OMG, is this you?" or "I think you're on here"? These are all common signs of a phishing/spam message -- exercise extreme caution.
  
  
• Watch the login page! Most accounts are compromised as a result of phishing - fake login pages that trick you into giving up your account information. Be wary of any link that takes you to a page asking for your account name/password. Doest he URL look right? Were you already logged into Twitter? When in doubt, close the page and open the Twitter home page (www.twitter.com) in a new window. Log in there.
  
  
• Don't use the same login/password for every website. If your login and password are the same for Twitter and your online bank, having your Twitter account compromised can lead to much bigger problems.
  
  
• When in doubt, take it off Twitter. If you aren't sure if a DM is real, ask the sender to contact you via e-mail or phone. That should give you a better opportunity to evaluate the situation.
  
  
• Be careful who you follow. It's tempting to follow everyone in sight, but the better you know the person you're following the more likely you are to identify a DM that's out of character or unusual.
  
  
• If you do fall victim to phishing and your account is used maliciously, change your password immediately and then Tweet a warning to your followers. Try to help others avoid your mistake.