Twitter is causing outrage over its inability to rein in rampant cryptocurrency scams in its platform. Seemingly incapable of putting an end to the phenomenon, the social media giant has left its users unimpressed, after one specific account changed its handle on six separate occasions.
It was recently reported that ‘blue badge’ profile scams in the cryptocurrency space have continued unabated for at least two months, with Verge’s official Twitter account still unverified, and another handle incorrectly awarded the blue badge in its stead.
A key issue contributing to the problem is that profiles do not lose their verified status until the username is changed, allowing account holders to amend their name without their blue badge being taken away.
As a result, disruptive entities are able to repeatedly change their names, and thus continually scam any unsuspecting users who haven’t thought to check their username, but fall for their tricks.
A perfect case in point is provided by Twitter account @seifsbei, which boasts the coveted blue checkmark and has thousands of followers. At press time, it is masquerading as Verge Currency, but this Twitter user previously masqueraded as Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.
Verge’s official Twitter account isn’t verified, while the scammers are tricking users with verified accounts. The cryptocurrency has been subject to a lot of controversy lately, as it hard forked to escape a 51 percent attack a malicious miner hit it with.
The cryptocurrency recently partnered with Pornhub, only to see the market price of its coins drop still further following the announcement. The very last thing it now needs is for scammers to affect its image.
Twitter’s Scammer Struggle
Verge is not the only big name that has had issues with Twitter. Most well-known personalities in the cryptosphere are being affected, as scammers use hijacked accounts to trick their followers into believing they’re holding a giveaway.
In addition, multiple users reportedly reported the controversial Twitter handle @bitcoin, as some see the account as misleading for promoting Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as bitcoin. The account got suspended, but ended up coming back.
So prevalent have these scams become that the FBI itself is reputed to have pressured the social media platform into following the example of Facebook and Google and removing all cryptocurrency advertisements from its site – a very telling move for any who wish to read into it.
Verge, Vitalik Buterin, and the many investors who have already been affected are not the only ones who must therefore be hoping that Twitter gets on top of its current verification scam problem. With any unsuspecting users now at risk of finding themselves embroiled and cheated out of their money, it is down to the social media behemoth to take charge and better protect its people, both professional and private.
