Paid Twitter ‘verification’ leads to fake accounts of game companies including Nintendo and Valve

Notable individuals and companies, including the likes nintendo And the valveThey are being impersonated on Twitter after the service’s new paid verification system was launched.

Before that Elon Musk acquires the platform for $44 billionTwitter independently verifies and awards certain accounts, indicated with a blue check mark, based on their meeting certain requirements.

These accounts were deemed active, privileged, and genuine in the public interest, but there is now another way for anyone to get a “verification” which has potentially disastrous consequences.

Twitter Blue’s new $7.99 monthly subscription service allows anyone to pay for the blue check mark on their account without undergoing a review to see if it meets the active, prominent, and genuine criteria.

Musk previously claimed the new system would act as a deterrent to spammers and scammers, but hours after it was introduced on Wednesday, it was also used to promote falsehoods.

A fake but verified account appeared on Nintendo of America recently advertising an unreleased Super Mario Galaxy game. She also posted a picture of the Nintendo mascot giving the middle finger.

A verified Valve account has also been used to “advertise” Ricochet: Neon Prime, which has been described as the “next competitive platform” from the company behind the Half-Life series and the leading online digital game store. steam.

While it turned out to be fake, it did spawn its own thread on the popular gaming forum It will be reset Before users recognize it as a hoax and shut it down.

Elsewhere, a “verified” Twitch account has been retweeted hundreds of times after “announcing” new revenue splits for creators.

Others have used the new system to get phishing account verification status for athletesAnd the PolicyAnd the Jesus Christ even musk itself.

Probably most troubling for the platform is the evidence of a new check mark system It said It was used to successfully impersonate Twitter and defraud users into paying money.

In an effort to prevent the Twitter Blue restart from causing mass confusion about the original accounts, Twitter is temporarily inserted A new metric was designed Wednesday to help users distinguish between blue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that have been verified as official.

The “official” mark, which was not available for purchase, was temporarily granted to certain accounts including those of government agencies, commercial companies, major media outlets and some public figures, although that system was quickly rescinded after hours.

“We do not currently place an ‘official’ rating on accounts but are aggressively hunting down impersonation and deception,” Twitter support account confirmed Wednesday.

Musk summed up the current situation in a tweet on Wednesday, recognition: “Please note that Twitter is going to do a lot of stupid things in the coming months. We’ll keep what works and change what doesn’t.”