Social Snafu: Twitter Verifies a Scam Verge Cryptocurrency Account
The official Verge account, meanwhile, has yet to get its blue badge.
A fraudulent Twitter account is making the rounds in the cryptocurrency market, with anonymous cryptocurrency Verge one of its latest victims. Getting verified is a status symbol on Jack Dorsey’s social media site, but the scams that are being left unchecked, so to speak, are compromising that trust.
It’s a sign of chaos inside the house of Twitter, which has been cracking down on the market and banned ICO and cryptocurrency ads in March. Verifying the authenticity of the wrong account with the coveted “blue badge” only creates confusion for followers, especially in a world riddled with fake cryptocurrency giveaways and phishing scams. Verge, which boasts privacy and security, previously suffered a Twitter hack , and it has plenty of reasons to fire back. The real and unverified Verge account tweeted the following message, calling for Twitter to do manual ID checks.
Verge went on to tweet that “it’s happening to every top coin’s Twitter account.”
Here’s a screenshot of the imposter account, which has since moved on from Verge and set its sights on cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. It’s able to hop accounts like this and maintain its verified status because it keeps its user handle, @seifsbei, the same. Most recently they’re reposting tweets from Bitfinex, but previously they were s mimicking Verge. Notice the blue checkmark, which signifies a verified Twitter account.
Verge recently announced a partnership with Mindgeek for adult entertainment, and it buoyed the blockchain startup’s cryptocurrency by double-digit percentages ahead of the official announcement. Today, however, investors are taking some profits in Verge (XVG).
Twitter Trouble
It’s not the first time that Twitter has insulted the account holder of a cryptocurrency market participant. As CCN.com recently reported, the account with the @bitcoin handle was temporarily suspended before being reinstated amid an outcry from followers.
Twitter’s lack of control may seem suspect considering the company’s co-founder Jack Dorsey is a bitcoin bull, having been part of a consortium to back Lightning Labs . Meanwhile, the bitcoin account had been touting bitcoin rival, its spinoff Bitcoin Cash (BCH). As for Verge, it too boasts “fast, efficient and decentralized transactions” that “improve upon the original bitcoin blockchain,” according to the company’s site .
For Twitter to crack down on cryptocurrencies on one hand and fail to ensure that there aren’t any fake accounts floating around, nevermind verified fake accounts, is on them.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
