New Phishing Scam Exploits Twitter's Verification Issues

The ongoing problem on Twitter regarding verification badges opens up the opportunity for a new phishing scam to target its users.

Phishing emails have made their way to verified users, whom cyber criminals want to hack account passwords from, says 9to5 Mac.

Twitter's Verification Mayhem Is Now A Security Concern

Since Elon Musk announced that he is planning an overhaul of verifications on the social media platform, several hackers immediately took this opportunity to start phishing for data.

These phishing emails imitate emails from a trusted source and are designed to trick people into revealing personal data or to download malware on their computers.

According to Tech Crunch, the phishing emails circulating after the incident urge users to post their login information on the cyber hacker's website.

The emails posing as Twitter Help messages were sent from a Google account that links to a site that lets users host various web content.

The site had several layers to make it difficult for Google to detect the illegal activity, but it is embedded in a Russian host site called Beget.

Google tells Tech Crunch that the site used by hackers to phish has since been taken down for violations of their program policies.

Beget has also been alerted about the phishing pages, to which it responded by removing the hacker's domain from the operation.

Additionally, the phishing emails claim that the blue check verifications on Twitter will now cost $19.99 a month from November 2, possibly targeting users' bank information.

This follows Musk's proposal to charge users for a verification badge, saying that the company can not keep relying on advertisers for revenue, Spiceworks writes.

Musk's Strict Verification Orders Sparks This Controversy

After buying Twitter for $44 billion, the CEO is already making big moves for the company as he reportedly gave employees an ultimatum on the platform's verification feature.

According to The Verge, Musk ordered Twitter employees to meet his deadline on November 7 to introduce a new paid verification scheme, or they will be fired.

The directive is to change Twitter Blue, the platform's verification feature, from an optional $4.99 a month subscription to a $19.99 plan.

This is all in Twitter's new owner's vision to revamp the social media site, following the changes he already made to the homepage for logged-out users.

Twitter Blue is a subscription feature launched a year ago, which gives users the privilege of viewing articles ad-free and making customizations to the app.

Musk's threat to fire employees is also not new, as he has previously expressed his plan of laying off a mass of middle managers and engineers working for the company.

These cuts are expected to happen this week and will likely be targeting those who have not contributed to Twitter's code base, The Verge writes.

As of writing, Twitter has not given any more information or a public decision about the plans it has for the verification program.