scammers use fake blue ticks in X to steal data – Kommersant

According to British newspaper The Guardian, scammers use blue checkmarks on the X microblogging network (formerly Twitter) to steal the personal data of users who contact customer service departments of various companies through this network. In fact, an old phishing technique is used, when an attacker disguises his page as a customer relations page of a company. When a dissatisfied customer contacts this address, the scammer, under the guise of paying compensation, swindles users of his bank account information, payment information, and other personal data.

As part of the changes introduced by Elon Musk after the purchase of Twitter, a blue verified user checkmark can be obtained in exchange for a paid account on the network (£11 per month) – formerly Twitter Blue, and now X Premium. Corporate accounts, on the other hand, can get a gold tick for a monthly fee of £950.

Now scammers are trying to use innovations for their own purposes. After users complained about poor service to companies such as Booking.com, EasyJet and British Airways, they were reportedly contacted via X, allegedly by representatives of these companies, and offered to continue communicating via WhatsApp for compensation. Users report that accounts on X were designed as corporate and had blue checkmarks. Now companies are warning their customers to be more careful and pay attention to the presence of a golden checkmark on their official page in X.

Evgeniy Khvostik