Twitter's big headache: Brand impostors thanks to the $8 verification

Users started creating Twitter accounts pretending to be major brands and politicians, fooling users and potentially jeopardizing Twitter's now-shaky reputation with top advertisers

Twitter Inc.’s trust and safety team, which earlier this week had been focused on the US midterm election, quickly shifted its attention to deal with a problem of its own making: a host of users impersonating major brands and celebrities, according to people familiar with the matter.
 

New leader Elon Musk, who purchased the company two weeks ago for $44 billion, updated the premium version of the product in a way that awards paying subscribers with blue check marks -- the same ones that governments, celebrities and businesses get on the site for free to confirm their identities. Once the