The Twitter con - beware!

I was up this morning looking to see if I could grab some Michael Jackson tickets - I still am in the queue supposedly, though the whole thing is a bit of a shambles. In any case, I was monitoring the Twittersphere for conversations around Michael Jackson to see what everyone else was experiencing. It was here that a con could be played with relative ease - this actually happened though I have no idea whether it was a con or not. Here is the scenario:

1. phone lines are jammed - they do not even connect

2. the website says you are in a queue but whilst in that queue it crashes and you have to start again several time.

3. Everyone on Twitter is saying the same thing.

4. Someone shouts, I have a number, it goes straight through and you just need your password.

What happens next?

Well obviously everyone grabs the number and dials, promptly giving your password and credit card details. Yet this person has not been on twitter long and is not following very many people. That in itself today means very little, of course. A lot of people are new to twitter so neither is a suprise. So what can you do?

Well you could search for the number online, see if it is mentioned on a website you trust.

But when it is all said and done you will have to make that decision. How much do you trust that information? Obviously the longer you take the less likely you are to get that ticket. But of course, if it is a con, you do not have that ticket anyway ;)

Be warned!

[update] To be completely clear - I have no idea whether the occurance of this today was a con or not. The occurrance of this today, merely highlighted the possibility of this!

[update] Tom Bird pointed out on LinkedIn that Frank Abagnale,a former check confidence trickster, forger and imposter talks around these sorts of cons. He has had a film made about him - Catch Me if You Can) and written several books (a few are Catch Me if You Can, The Art of the Steal and Stealing Your Life). He is supposed to be a great speaker so if you have the opportunity to hear him do so!