Fake verified Twitter accounts are flooding the platform

Soon after Musk launched Twitter Blue premium subscription serviceDozens of scam accounts started popping up for anyone willing to pay $8 a month, or $9.99 in Canada, to anyone who hands out blue check “verification” labels.

There are now two categories of “blue checks” and they look the same. One includes accounts verified before Musk took over and verified as “notable in government, news, entertainment or another category.” The other notes that the account is subscribed to Twitter Blue.

From one Fake account impersonating Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeting jokes about keeping sick children away from his cabin to an account masquerading as pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. and tweeting that insulin is freeIt’s been a freebie for Twitter users teasing the platform’s latest feature.

On Thursday, Elon Musk tweeted that all parody accounts must include the word “parody” in their name and not just in their bio.

“To be more precise, making accounts of parody characters. Basically, misleading people is not okay,” he said.

on friday Twitter Blue subscriptions are not available because of the flurry of fake accounts.

Here are some of the tweets showing the fake accounts flooding the platform, with some accounts missing days before Twitter took them down: