In crypto scams, X offers 80% discount for gold checking accounts
X (formerly Twitter) has slashed rates for verified firms on the social media platform, with reports that groups have been using ‘golden check' accounts to push crypto scams.
According to a Jan. 3 report from Rishika Desai at cybersecurity firm Cloudsec, threat actors are specifically targeting X accounts registered for GoldCheck authentication, which organizations can buy for $1,000 a month starting in March 2023. “Malicious campaigns targeting Twitter Gold accounts are on the rise,” the cyber risk researcher said, targeting X users with work and crypto scams.
“[T]He said Cloudsec's research team identified accounts on X (formerly Twitter), which were registered with the Gold symbol and posted links to malicious domains. “They had these domains […] Various platforms insist that their followers join random channels based on crypto.
On January 2, X announced on its social media platform that it will reduce the price of the gold reference from $ 1,000 to $ 200 for the monthly price of the “basic” plan. Many speculated that the price cut could be an attempt to gain more paying subscribers. According to reports, the platform is valued at around $19 billion as of October 2023 – less than half of what Elon Musk paid in 2022.
Elon Musk will do anything to earn $40 billion by 2024
— Nasiru Abdulrasheed (@neabdulrasheed) January 2, 2024
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According to Cloudsec, many fraudsters have taken over unused or inactive X accounts and turned them into Gold accounts, and used the verification system to push crypto scams. In some cases, bad actors offer to sell the bills to others online for up to $2,500.
With the growing adoption of digital assets, high-profile platforms, including X, have become targets of fraudsters using various methods to defraud users. Hackers have previously taken over the accounts of US President Joe Biden, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and many others and pushed scams involving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
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