Twitter users have encountered a significant challenge since Elon Musk, the CEO of the platform, eliminated the traditional verified accounts. One of the major issues they face is discerning authentic accounts amidst the absence of these verified badges. Musk’s implementation of an $8 subscription fee for account verification has resulted in a situation where individuals can unknowingly engage with impostors or spread misinformation, as anyone can now obtain verification by paying the fee according to the updated policy.
The problem has come to light in recent times when users search for ‘Paytm’ on Twitter, as this action prompts multiple responses from a minimum of four fraudulent accounts posing as the customer support representatives of the fintech firm.
When users tweet ‘Paytm’, they have observed that unverified bot accounts are offering a customer care number, targeting individuals who may require assistance with payment or other Paytm-related problems. These bots can be deceptive, particularly because Paytm’s official customer care account on Twitter, named ‘Paytm care’, is also unverified.
Moreover, these bots mimic the writing style typically used by the digital payment company when responding to customers on Twitter, further making the users believe that they may be legitimate. However, there are methods available to identify these bots.
How to identify these bots?
These fake bots can be easily identified by looking at their usernames. Typically, they consist of a series of random numbers and may include the term “Paytm” in their usernames, indicating that they are likely fake accounts. Another indicator is that genuine Paytm Care tweets commonly suggest using the direct message option to address any queries, rather than providing a customer care number. Users can further confirm the authenticity of these accounts by paying attention to the content of the bots’ messages, which often contain spelling errors, incoherent writing, inconsistent fonts, among others.
