Have you recently followed a verified Elon Musk Facebook account? Several reports stated that you might have been following a Facebook account of a Bitcoin scammer who is surprisingly based in Egypt.
Elon Musk's Verified Account on Facebook
The Verge reported that a fan page for the Tesla CEO, which has 150,000 followers, had been verified by Facebook. Unfortunately, the said page became inaccessible on Monday.
In the "About" section of the verified Musk Facebook page, it has a written description that reads, "Musk owns a Tesla Roadster car 0001 (the first one off the production line) from Tesla Motors, a company in which he is an early investor. The Roadster is a battery-electric sports car with a 220-mile range. This is a fan page, uploading tweets, etc from him."
This description showed that the FB page is not pretending to be the SpaceX founder but merely a support page created for Musk. In addition, it is worth noting that the URL of the FB account ends in "ElonMuckoffici," which does not appear to be an official page.
Moreover, Engadget also noticed that the Page Transparency section states that the person managing the page is based in Egypt and not in the US, where Musk resides.
For those people who are not familiar with the Page Transparency section, it has the information about the history of the page, whether it runs an ad, and who it is managed by, per The Verge.
Aside from the surprising fact that the page manager is based in Egypt, the page was created on July 28, 2019, under the name of Kizito Gavin, which is the reversed name of the Uganda soccer player Gavin Kizito. Additionally, the verified Musk FB page also changed its name six times this year.
Before the page manager decided to name it to the richest man in the world, it changed its name from Kizito Gavin to Gavin Kizito after two years. Months later, it shifted from Gavin Kizito to Ameen Khattab. While a few days after, the page name changed to Ahmed Kenawy. Lastly, the page owner decided to name it under the Tesla CEO on October 17 twice.
On the other hand, The Verge added that there is no clarification as to when did the page was verified.
Engadget furthered that the account had 11 Facebook posts, and most of them are merely reposts of SpaceX founder's tweets. However, the recent post showed a fake Bitcoin giveaway, which is clearly not related to Elon Musk.
How Does Facebook Verification Works?
The verification process of Facebook requires account owners to show proof of their identity including passport or driver's license, per Engadget. Through the stated verification of a fan page for Musk, it shows that scammers have found ways to cheat the official process.
For a detailed explanation, the social media giant posted a step-by-step process in authenticating a page or profile.
1. Facebook users should fill out this form.
2. Once filled out, head to this page to know all the requirements needed to have verified badge.
Keep in mind that if the page or profile does not meet the criteria, there are other ways that could help authenticate the Facebook account. It includes linking it to an Instagram profile, Twitter account and an official website.
For what it's worth, social media users should always be cautious of the posts seen online.
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