Following the rollout of Twitter’s new paid-for verification system, well-known people and organizations, such as Nintendo and Valve, are being impersonated on the social media platform.
Twitter independently verified and awarded specific accounts, denoted by a blue checkmark, based on them meeting certain standards prior to Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the site.

These accounts were considered to be noteworthy, authentic, active, and of general interest, but there is now a different route for anyone to get “confirmed,” which has led to possibly negative outcomes.

Anyone can pay to have the blue checkmark on their account without being verified as meeting the active, significant, and legitimate criteria thanks to the new $7.99 per month Twitter Blue membership service.

Although Musk had previously asserted that the new system would serve as a deterrent to spammers and con artists, it was discovered a few hours after it went live on Wednesday that it was also being used to spread lies.

An unreleased Super Mario Galaxy game was recently promoted by a fraudulent but legitimate Nintendo of America account. Additionally, a picture of Nintendo’s mascot giving the middle finger was published.

Can't imagine why all the advertisers are pulling out of Twitter lmao pic.twitter.com/pg55WXkxhS

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 9, 2022

 

 

Ricochet: Neon Prime, described as the “next competitive platform” from the studio behind the Half-Life series and the top digital game retailer Steam, was also “announced” using a legitimate Valve account.

Despite being a hoax, it nonetheless started its own topic on the well-known gaming community Resetera before users exposed it for what it was: a fraud.

this announcement is fake, created with purchased twitter blue checkmark, real account @valvesoftware pic.twitter.com/D3B3D8guYq

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) November 9, 2022

A “confirmed” Twitch account received hundreds of retweets elsewhere after purportedly “announce[ing]” new revenue splits for creators.

Others have gained verification status for fake profiles for sportsmen, politicians, Jesus Christ, and even Musk himself using the new technique.

https://twitter.com/twitchparody/status/1590494139065733120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1590494139065733120%7Ctwgr%5Ec31346761a56156094b3fd71265e34e0172a72a9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.videogameschronicle.com%2Fnews%2Ftwitters-paid-verification-leads-to-fake-accounts-for-game-companies-including-nintendo-and-valve%2F

For posterity pic.twitter.com/mWa4DlenN2

— Brian Whelan (@brianwhelanhack) November 9, 2022

Evidence that the new checkmark system has purportedly been used to effectively spoof Twitter and swindle users of money may be even more concerning for the network.

Twitter temporarily implemented a new measure on Wednesday to help users distinguish between Blue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that it had verified as official ones in an effort to prevent Twitter Blue’s relaunch from leading to widespread confusion over which accounts were authentic.

The new check mark system has resulted in Threat Actors successfully impersonating Twitter and defrauding users out of money

Although the account is now suspended, it rapidly got 35,000+ retweets and 4,990 likes.

A simple $8 investment can result in thousands of dollars stolen. pic.twitter.com/uz7DHwflf6

— vx-underground (@vxunderground) November 10, 2022

Some accounts, including those for specific government institutions, business enterprises, significant media outlets, and some prominent individuals, were given a temporary “Official” title that wasn’t available for purchase; however, this system was abruptly abandoned hours later.

The Twitter Support account stated on Wednesday that although “We’re not currently putting a ‘Official’ designation on accounts, we are aggressively going after impersonation and deceit.”

In a tweet posted on Wednesday, Musk summarized the current state of affairs by stating: “Please note that Twitter will do a lot of stupid stuff in the coming months. What works will be kept, and what doesn’t will be changed.