The login details of millions of Twitter users are reportedly for sale, leading to the social media site locking a number of accounts.

Reports surfaced on Thursday that a Russian hacker called Tessa88 was asking for 10 Bitcoin (£4,000) on the dark web for a list of 32 million names.

As a result Twitter cross-checked the data with their own records, and accounts they believed to be at risk were locked and the owners contacted to reset their passwords.

The social media site said it was confident that the information had not been obtained by a hack. Instead they believed that the information may have come from hacks on other sites where people have used the same password as they have for their Twitter account, malware on people's computers and devices, or a combination of the two.

What should you do?

The majority of Twitter users have not been affected.

If the security of your account has been compromised you will have been contacted by email or text telling you to reset your password. The account is then protected until the owner resets the password.

The sale of the Twitter information comes just weeks after the account information of 100 million Linkedin users was offered for sale.