Fake accounts pop up on Twitter following legacy blue check removals – NBC News

As Twitter began removing legacy verification badges Thursday, impersonators quickly took advantage of the situation by creating parody accounts for public figures, including celebrities and politicians.After their real accounts lost their blue check marks, impersonator accounts quickly emerged for users such as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, the City of New York, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and former Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio.As of Friday morning, Twitter accounts impersonating Clinton, Rowling, New York and Piker were suspended. Accounts with verified blue check marks had been awarded the badges by the company’s previous leadership to identify accounts belonging to public organizations and high-profile users. The platform announced it would wind down the system officially Thursday.The check marks, which were free, are now available through Twitter Blue — a subscription service the company launched last year.Some public figures have kept their badges, courtesy of Twitter owner Elon Musk, while many more lost verification, adding to confusion around the real accounts of its high-profile users. Programmer Travis Brown tweeted that only 28 legacy verified accounts joined Twitter Blue following Thursday’s purge. Brown said his findings are based off data pulled from the
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