Scammers are now making use of Twitter’s blue subscription service to trick people. Here’s everything you need to know about the newest Twitter scam.
Scammers use blue tick verification
Thanks to Elon Musk launching the Twitter Blue subscription, scammers are buying the checkmark to trick customers. A new financial Twitter scam came to light as seamsters are using the subscription service for duping users. As per a New York Post report, crooks impersonating banks or officials are targeting users on the platforms. When a user posts complaints with their bank accounts tagging their bank, a scammer posing as a customer service agent approaches them.
What adds to the confusion is that many businesses maintain separate accounts for customer service. For example, Citi bank uses the account @Citi. However, it uses @AskCiti for customer service-related uses. Scammers quote the original tweet and offer a customer care number to the user. Once they have their hooks on them, scammers collect sensitive private information including login credentials. With the blue tick available for a small price, scammers are tricking people into believing their account is legit and official.
More on the Twitter scam
With Musk announcing the removal of the legacy checkmarks, companies need to be quick to apply for Twitter Blue. After all, they can risk allowing their customers to fall prey to Twitter scams. Moreover, this is not the first time where Twitter was used by scammers. Last year, a user impersonating LeBron James demanded a trade from Los Angeles Lakers. Similarly, American pharma giant Eli Lilly lost billions after a tweet by a fake account impersonating the firm. The firm lost over $15 billion before they were able to rectify the mistake.