Even with a $1,000 monthly fee, scammers can still get Verified Organizations accounts on X to promote fake websites for phishing.
ZachXBT, an online investigator, has discovered a rise in a shady market for accounts labeled “Verified Organizations.” These accounts were designed to help X users (previously known as Twitter) identify real profiles of well-known organizations and avoid fake ones. In under two days, ZachXBT found twelve accounts with the gold check mark, indicating they were verified by X. However, these profiles were clearly not genuine.
One account pretended to be Inverse Finance, a platform for borrowing money at a fixed rate, using the name “InverseFlinance.” This account tricked users by promising them INV tokens if they participated in a fake giveaway, but only for the first 500 users.
Another example involved a fake account copying the X profile of Lido, a well-known liquid-staking ecosystem. This fake account went by “LidoFimnance” and led users to a deceptive website, claiming to be for registering with Lido DAO.
According to crypto influencer Jakeofranko, many of these scam accounts appear as Verified Organizations on the platform, but they’ve been active for less than a month, have few posts, and almost no followers. This raises doubts among X users about the verification process quality.
ZachXBT reached out to the X team for help with this problem. He expressed frustration, stating that Verified Organizations were meant to counter scams but have instead given rise to a black market for accounts, making it hard to report or remove them.
On X’s official website, it’s mentioned that Verified Organizations lets businesses, non-profits, and government institutions manage their verification and associate it with related accounts.
X explains, “Organizations with subscriptions to Verified Organizations get a gold checkmark and square avatar (or a grey checkmark for governments) to show their verification.”
For this verification, X charges a high fee. As of now, the feature requires a monthly payment of $1,000 and $50 for each additional affiliate. These prices don’t include taxes and can differ based on location.
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
Elon Musk’s Tweet Sparks Questions on X’s Verification Fee
ZachXBT shared a part of a tweet from Elon Musk, suggesting that the payment serves as a barrier for “verified orgs.” Musk’s aim is to ensure that only sizable organizations can qualify and deter scammers from creating numerous accounts.
As per X’s website, organizations wanting verification must include their “eligibility criteria” in the signup form. The team reviews and approves the account based on these criteria. One requirement is having an active X account that matches the organization’s details. The X team verifies this account to activate the Verified Organizations subscription. Other needed details include the organization’s current email and website domain.
Challenges with Verified Accounts on X Platform
Verification Issues: Despite the gold check mark, fake accounts are still common, revealing doubts about the verification process’s effectiveness.
Scammers’ Tactics: Scammers are willing to pay for Verified Organizations accounts, which the X team didn’t anticipate. Users like ZachXBT noted scammers buying these accounts on Telegram.
Phishing Problems: On-chain analyst Yazan found phishing links in paid ads by Verified Organizations. These links led to significant losses, sometimes in five figures, before the fake accounts were removed. Yazan mentioned similar issues on Meta platforms, though with less damage.
(L) Elon sycophant says check solves bots
(R) scammer pays $1k/month for gold check pic.twitter.com/yPGobjqimR
— █̶̳̘͛̄̃͒̄̃͜█̴͇̱̅͒̅█̵̻̣̝͒̈̄̈͝͝█̴̞̜̻̝͍̂̽͜█̷̢ (@SHL0MS) August 22, 2023
ZachXBT and his followers are urging Elon Musk and the official X social media accounts, including its Premium subscription program, to respond to the growing scams. Some X users think the platform should be accountable for letting phishing scammers promote their sites.
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
On the other hand, a lot of X users are unsure about Verified Organizations accounts. They feel these accounts were added “to earn money and not to stop bots or scams.” According to them, the gold check mark might encourage scamming, as the X team hasn’t suggested any solutions despite “many reports” being submitted.
Important: Please note that this article is only meant to provide information and should not be taken as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other type of advice.
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