Twitter is going through very turbulent days since Elon Musk took the helm. Not only were there layoffs, there were also major changes to Twitter Blue’s subscription and account verification. We’ll talk a little more about it later, but in summary we can say the following: verifying your Twitter account costs only 8 euros and impersonating an identity too .
Due to changes in verification policies, the platform became a minefield full of fake accounts, posing as other people or companies. This generated an unprecedented wave of scams and hoaxes on this social network, so you must be careful. Avoid falling into the trap and learn how to tell if a verified Twitter account is fake .
The Problem: Now Anyone Can Verify Your Twitter Account And Steal Identities (Paying)
Before we get into the solution, let’s talk a little about the problem. Since Twitter renewed its premium subscription (Twitter Blue) on November 9, 2022, it is now possible to verify your account in two ways .
The first, and easiest, is by paying €8 a month to maintain a Twitter Blue subscription . Second, by being an “active, notable, and public interest user” who has been independently reviewed by Twitter before (you’re a famous person).
The second method is the one we’ve known all our lives and doesn’t cause any inconvenience, but the first can be quite a headache. The problem with authentication via Twitter Blue is that anyone can easily get their blue badge, they just have to pay . It does not matter if you have just created the account, if you do not have followers, if you are not who you say you are, if you have just changed users, etc. There are no filters, nothing matters, just that you go through the box.
Thus, any malicious user can impersonate a famous person , company or organization to deceive others. This is exactly what is happening, as hundreds of users have reported that they have been scammed or are echoing false information from these accounts. This is what you should be careful of, since stealing an identity on Twitter only costs €8 a month (even if it is illegal).
How you can check the authenticity of a verified account on Twitter (officially)
Now, let’s move on to the solution. As of this writing, there is only one official way to check if a verified account is really who they say they are: through the blue verification badge.
Visually, the check mark is the same (a blue badge with a white “check” icon), but interacting with it changes things. If you tap on an account’s verification badge, Twitter will let you know how it got it :
- Verification for notoriety in the government, news, entertainment, or other category designated by Twitter.
- Twitter Blue Subscription Verification.
If it’s the first, be sure it’s a real account. If it is the second, doubt immediately , because it could be a fake account. In general, this method should work most of the time to avoid being scammed and is the “official” way of checking.
However, it misses the mark in one key respect: Not all famous people have independently verified Twitter accounts , especially niche ones. Thus, you might well think that an account is fake when, in fact, it is authentic.
Recommendations to check if a Twitter account really is who it claims to be
Taking into account what we said last in the previous section, we leave you with some additional recommendations to avoid misjudgments:
- Verify when the account was created – An account that is only recently created will not be independently verified by Twitter, it can only be done through Twitter Blue.
- Check the number of followers over time : an account with little time will never have thousands (even less millions) of followers.
- Check the activity : A real famous account tends to be very active and have a lot of (organic) interactions.
- Check the user : You can search Google or any other search engine for information about what is the real user of a famous person on Twitter.
- They will never ask you for money : As with banks and many digital platforms, a famous person on Twitter will never ask you for money or to leave your financial information somewhere.
- Fact-Check the information : If you read something that caught your attention from a verified account, look for information on and off Twitter about it. If it is false, you will surely find data that points to it.
Do not fall! Because, as we already said, Twitter is now a minefield in which you have to be extremely careful.
