Twitter is flooded with fraudulent ads related to cryptocurrencies

Users of the social network X (formerly Twitter) began to complain about the growing number of fraudulent ads on the platform. These are mostly ads promoting fraudulent websites for cryptocurrency theft, fake digital asset giveaways, and other types of user deception.

Social network X claims to display ads based on user activity. However, users report that the platform is increasingly displaying ads placed by fraudsters instead.

Interestingly, most of the fraudulent ads are posted by «verified» X accounts, i.e. users who pay $ 8 or $ 16 per month for one of the premium subscription options and have a blue checkmark. Since the volume of malicious ads is large, it is assumed that X does not have a procedure to thoroughly vet the ads before they are published on the platform. It is possible that X is retaining these advertisers because of the loss of other, larger clients at the end of last year. In November, The New York Times estimated that the social network could lose up to $ 75 million by the end of 2023 after the termination of campaigns by major advertisers such as Apple, IBM, and Disney.