Getting a verification status on most social media platforms is the type of thing that virtually anyone would want. Regardless of what field you are in, whether you are a musician or a politician or an influencer, having a blue tick is a sign that you are a legitimate individual or business within that field. Suffice it to say that getting verified is something that will allow you to get taken a lot more seriously in all matters, so it is understandable that so many people have started looking into ways in which they can go about finding a way to get themselves verified.
Now, for the most part social media platforms are going to have rather stringent guidelines for allowing people to get verified. Most people that genuinely have a following and are respected/authoritative members of that field to some extent or the other will end up getting a blue tick, but many that desire a verification badge would find that they do not qualify for it which can lead them to look for other solutions that would ostensibly get them the verification that they so greatly desire.
The only problem with this is that if you were to contact someone that claims that they can get you verified whether or not you fulfill the criteria for this type of thing, you are more than likely to get scammed. There are plenty of such scams popping up on social media, with one scam on TikTok saying that users that have been followed for 30 or more days could fill in a form that would get them well on their way to acquiring the coveted blue tick.
There are a lot of reasons why malicious actors would want to do something like this. First and foremost, the forms that you are filling out would generally contain quite a bit of really vital information. The thing that you might not realize is that for the most part this information is extremely valuable, and malicious actors would stop at nothing to try and get their hands on it whenever it would be possible for them. Since the form would require you to submit this information, malicious actors would use this tactic in order to acquire your data and then potentially sell it to the highest bidder which can bring them vast amounts of money.
It’s not just small time influencers or people who want the blue tick as a status symbol who are under threat here either. If you manage to get verified on one platform, scammers are probably going to end up targeting you by saying that you can get verified on other platforms as well so long as you follow the instructions that they give you. The threat in this case is perhaps even more severe since it would involve accounts that have a lot of reach, and if you submit private information whilst pursuing verification on other platforms then chances are that your initial verified account would end up getting compromised.
Malicious actors try to illicitly gain access to various verified accounts all the time. The main reason for them wanting to do such a thing is the fact that they can use these accounts to push all kinds of schemes, with many of them promising free bitcoin or something similar. Users seeing these scams from verified accounts that they are familiar with would be more likely to fall for these tricks, so the verification model is resulting in a situation wherein malicious actors have ended up getting even more targets that they can focus on. While verification is important to discern genuine public figures from fake accounts, the pursuit of the blue tick has created a whole new wave of scams online.
H/T: CNet.
Read next: As more consumers are adopting online banking services, the rate of frauds has increased up to 150 percent across the world
Now, for the most part social media platforms are going to have rather stringent guidelines for allowing people to get verified. Most people that genuinely have a following and are respected/authoritative members of that field to some extent or the other will end up getting a blue tick, but many that desire a verification badge would find that they do not qualify for it which can lead them to look for other solutions that would ostensibly get them the verification that they so greatly desire.
The only problem with this is that if you were to contact someone that claims that they can get you verified whether or not you fulfill the criteria for this type of thing, you are more than likely to get scammed. There are plenty of such scams popping up on social media, with one scam on TikTok saying that users that have been followed for 30 or more days could fill in a form that would get them well on their way to acquiring the coveted blue tick.
There are a lot of reasons why malicious actors would want to do something like this. First and foremost, the forms that you are filling out would generally contain quite a bit of really vital information. The thing that you might not realize is that for the most part this information is extremely valuable, and malicious actors would stop at nothing to try and get their hands on it whenever it would be possible for them. Since the form would require you to submit this information, malicious actors would use this tactic in order to acquire your data and then potentially sell it to the highest bidder which can bring them vast amounts of money.
It’s not just small time influencers or people who want the blue tick as a status symbol who are under threat here either. If you manage to get verified on one platform, scammers are probably going to end up targeting you by saying that you can get verified on other platforms as well so long as you follow the instructions that they give you. The threat in this case is perhaps even more severe since it would involve accounts that have a lot of reach, and if you submit private information whilst pursuing verification on other platforms then chances are that your initial verified account would end up getting compromised.
Malicious actors try to illicitly gain access to various verified accounts all the time. The main reason for them wanting to do such a thing is the fact that they can use these accounts to push all kinds of schemes, with many of them promising free bitcoin or something similar. Users seeing these scams from verified accounts that they are familiar with would be more likely to fall for these tricks, so the verification model is resulting in a situation wherein malicious actors have ended up getting even more targets that they can focus on. While verification is important to discern genuine public figures from fake accounts, the pursuit of the blue tick has created a whole new wave of scams online.
H/T: CNet.
Read next: As more consumers are adopting online banking services, the rate of frauds has increased up to 150 percent across the world
