$1,000 threshold not enough? Twitter "Golden Hook" scams rampant, fake crypto protocols release phishing messages
Recently, a new type of scam has emerged on Twitter, where malicious actors have obtained verified Twitter accounts with a golden checkmark through undisclosed channels and used these official endorsement accounts to promote airdrop scam messages. In response to this, blockchain detective ZachXBT has identified several cryptocurrency-related scam accounts, which have been deleted, but this issue seems to persist day by day.
Hello @x @premium the phishing scam spam from fake verified orgs on Twitter has gotten out of control.
These 12 accounts are all just from the past 48 hrs alone.
Verified orgs were intended to make it harder for scammers but it has just created a new black market for accounts… pic.twitter.com/cppyD5cUSj
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 27, 2023
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Twitter Warns of Scam Accounts with Blue Checkmarks
ZachXBT issued a phishing scam warning on Twitter today, stating that a fake verified organization account with the blue checkmark has been compromised. He also listed 12 cryptocurrency-related scam accounts, including impostors like Pepe, friend.tech, and Apecoin.
According to previous statements by Musk, obtaining the blue checkmark verification on Twitter requires a monthly payment of $1,000 to prevent abuse by scam accounts.
However, this mechanism has been exploited by malicious actors, as ZachXBT mentioned that scammers are purchasing verified accounts through Telegram and distributing a significant number of airdrop-related posts to deceive people during moments of inattention.
"This is creating a new black market for accounts, and I cannot easily report and revoke these accounts," ZachXBT said.
Crypto Sector Becomes a Prime Target
After checking the listed scam accounts one by one, it was found that these accounts have already disappeared, seemingly manually revoked by Twitter officials.
However, ZachXBT mentioned that the routine deletion of scam accounts daily is not an effective method. He submits at least 10 reports daily, stating that the best approach is to rely on the official team to reevaluate the account approval process. Nevertheless, since most of these accounts target protocols in the crypto sector, it also makes it challenging for the team to distinguish the authenticity.