Twitter to lock unverified accounts if their display names are Elon Musk

In the spring of March 2018, when cryptocurrency was trying to stay afloat with numerous instances of cryptohacking and **cryptojacking** , an **unverified Twitter handle** which went by the name of Elon Musk led Twitter users to believe that the billionaire would help them make a quick buck in exchange for some Ether coins. This led to a rise in bots which had Twitter display names related to the Tesla CEO. Now, Twitter is locking unverified accounts which go by the name of Elon Musk. [caption id=“attachment_4813641” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Elon Musk. Reuters.[/caption] According to a report by The Verge, if you try to change your display name to Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, or SpaceX and your Twitter handle does not have a number associated to that account, Twitter will lock it. In order to regain access, you need to pass a CAPTCHA test and provide a phone number as well for verification. It is not known if parody accounts are taken into consideration. A Twitter spokesperson who spoke to The Verge, reportedly said, “As part of our continuing efforts to combat spam and malicious activity on our service, we’re testing new measures to challenge accounts that use terms commonly associated with spam campaigns. We are continually refining these detections based on changes in spammy activity.” Twitter is reportedly trying to counter bots which imitate Elon Musk. These accounts are known to even converse in the same tone as Musk. It was first reported in March that such bots exist which have been sending a thread of tweets where users are offered a rare opportunity to earn a quick buck by sending 0.5 to 0.4 ETH to his address book, and Elon Musk would send them 5 to 40 ETH, in return. Obviously, those who went ahead were duped.