The FBI has agents scouring Facebook and Twitter for tip-offs related to securities fraud, FBI agents recently told a Reuters conference.

The agency thinks the "next wave" of securities fraud will be closely linked to advances in technology and social media - which it views as a likely "breeding ground" for this kind of crime.

"I will tell you technology will play a huge part, social media, Twitter," said April Brooks, an agent in charge of the FBI's New York office. "Any kind of technology that is new and doesn't exist today, if there is any way to exploit it, these individuals will exploit it," she told Reuters TV at the news service's Investment Outlook 2013 Summit.

Brooks, along with David Chaves, a supervisory agent, oversees "Operation Perfect Hedge" - a long-running investigation into insider trading in the $2 trillion hedge fund industry that has led to over 60 convictions.

Reuters reports that on the day after the TV interview, the US government charged Mathew Martoma, a former SAC Capital employee, with a $276 million insider trading scheme which prosecutors claimed was "the most lucrative ever."

The news service said Brooks and Chaves gave "no hints" about the SAC case and declined to talk about active investigations.

The conference was held in New York, London and Hong Kong.