Meta’s recently launched micro-blogging platform, Threads, tipped to be a formidable rival to Elon Musk’s Twitter, is reportedly being invaded by several imposter crypto accounts. Notable high-profile crypto Twitter users have begun dispersing stern warnings to crypto users on Threads about the rise of fake crypto accounts on the platform.
Threads is touted to provide a better alternative to the growing discomfort endured on Twitter. Introduced on July 6, the platform has seen sign-ups rise beyond 98 million. Though still very far from Twitter’s estimated 450 million users, the new social media is well-positioned for more sign-ups in the coming days. But a growing concern for crypto enthusiasts in the past couple of days is the rise of fake crypto accounts on the platform.
On July 8, Wombex Finance tweeted an image of a Threads account impersonating it, issuing a warning to users and other crypto enthusiasts that it could be a scammer’s decoy as the project is not yet registered on the platform.
The nonfungible token (NFT) influencer, Leonidas, also tweeted a warning very similar to Wombex’s. Leonidas warned its 93,000 followers that a lot of large NFT accounts are being impersonated by scammers on the new platform. To combat these fraudulent acts by scammers, Leonidas said that it has finally created an account on Threads.
Jeffrey Huang, known on Twitter as Machi Big Brother, tweeted his Threads profile on July 6, with one user pointing out there was already an existing account on the platform impersonating his Twitter persona.
Scammers in the crypto space have contributed significantly to the catastrophe in the industry. According to Web3 security firm Beosin, $108 million worth of crypto was stolen in the first half of this year in phishing scams. And the fight against these thieves seems not to be ending anytime soon. However, crypto traders and enthusiasts can take cautionary steps to avoid falling victim to these scamming acts on social media platforms like Twitter and Threads.
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How to spot fake crypto accounts on Threads
Spotting fake crypto accounts on Threads can be tricky. But as a long-standing crypto user who is very conversant with the way scammers operate on social media platforms, they should not be difficult to spot. For the uninitiated, these are some of the tips to spot fake crypto accounts on Thread:
- Conduct a profile search: To spot a fake crypto account on Threads, first carry out a search for the subject on the platform. As usual, a number of accounts will appear with usernames similar to the subject’s name. For Threads, the most active profile might not be the genuine one considering that it recently launched and the first scammer to create a profile there might have possibly amassed a good number of followers. So what you do instead is go to the Twitter page of the subject and compare it with the most active profile with a similar name. The first thing to look out for is a possible reference to the subject’s newly created profile on their Twitter page. If you don’t find any sort of referencing, avoid the accounts on until there is an official announcement of an account on their Twitter page.
- Verify to See if There Are Spam Links or Fake Giveaways: If you receive frequent links from them, they are almost certainly fake accounts. What scammers do with fake accounts is trying to get people to click on fraudulent links that can get their digital assets stolen easily. The other way is fake giveaway schemes which lure users to get entrapped in their malicious acts.
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