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Pinterest users have been the victims of yet another cyber attack after accounts began inadvertently posting messages about weight loss (pictured)

Pinterest users have been the victims of yet another cyber attack after accounts began inadvertently posting messages about weight loss.

The malicious hack also spread on Twitter, which meant the social media site was also flooded with the same spam messages.

This happened because a significant number of Pinterest users log in to the pinboard-style photo sharing site via third-party apps such as Twitter. 

On both sites, the messages of 'An Asian fruit that burns fat for you? Yes please!' and 'I'm 12 pounds lighter as of today!' appeared with a link to the spam post on the Pinterest webpage.

According to Comscore, Pinterest is the 39th most popular website in the U.S. as of February 2014 and the company itself is valued at over $5 billion (£2.95 billion).

A report on tech site The Next Web said that this popularity has made it a target for spam and other types of malicious activity.

Pinterest told MailOnline: 'The security of Pinners is a top priority.

'We were alerted to some instances of spam and responded by immediately placing impacted accounts in safe mode, and reaching out to Pinners as we solved the issue.

'We're constantly working on ways to keep Pinners safe through reactive and proactive steps, as well as educating them on the importance of using complex and unique passwords.'

The malicious hack also spread on Twitter, which meant the social media site was similarly flooded with the same spam messages. On both sites, the messages of 'An Asian fruit that burns fat for you? Yes please!' and 'I'm 12 pounds lighter as of today!' appeared with a link to the spam post on the Pinterest webpage

Following a rise in spam, Pinterest has started warning users of unusual activity on their accounts when they log in, and suggest they reset their password. Warning message pictured

The attack follows March's 'butt pics hacking incident' in which users reported their pinned photos were being replaced with spam images of women in underwear.

Some were front-facing shots, while others showed clothed and bare bottoms – each captioned with weight loss spam, or giveaway offers.

Pinterest users in other social networks have been advised to be careful when logging in via third-party sites.

They are also told to beware of any suspicious links on social media, reset Pinterest user passwords, and revoke authorisation to any suspicious apps that are linked with their account.

Due to the rise in spam, Pinterest has started warning users of unusual activity on their accounts when they log in, and suggesting they reset their password.

Other hackers are creating fake boards designed as phishing scams that attempt to get access to connected Facebook accounts, for example.

At the start of March, Twitter accidentally reset millions of user's passwords but claimed it was due to a software bug, and wasn't because the site had been hacked.

More recently, online auction site eBay revealed that its servers were hacked four months ago - compromising the personal details of 15 million British users.

The attack follows last March's 'butt pics hacking incident' in which users reported their pinned photos to be replaced with spam images of women in underwear