Despite attempts at Facebook of verifying suspiciously popular accounts, the system is still not perfect, to say the least. The Verge has in fact reported during the past few hours that Facebook has mistakenly verified un account fake Elon Musk as the official account of the entrepreneur. As if that were not enough this profile seems to be managed by a scammer of Bitcoin.
Facebook verifica un account fake di Elon Musk
The page, which currently has 153,000 followers, is actually the first to openly state that it is not Musk, if you read the About section. Said this, url of the profile ends in “ElonMuskoffici”, an element that indicates that the admins are certainly trying to make it look as real as possible. In the Transparency section of the page, we read that the people who manage the page are resident in Egypt, further confirming how out of the way the algorithm was.
The account currently has 11 posts and although most of them are solo repost of Musk’s tweets, the most recent is clearly a fake Bitcoin giveaway (the post was later removed). The first post dates back to October 21, but as pointed out by The Verge, the page was actually created on July 28, 2019 with the name “Kizito Gavin” and has since changed its name many times, with the most recent modification dating back to October 17. .
Facebook verification requires account owners to send proof of their identity, such as a driver’s license or passport, but repeatedly scammers have found ways to circumvent the official process. The company has not commented on what happened, but the page has been made “unreachable” during the past few hours, a sign that most likely Facebook is taking action regarding its cancellation.