Martin Lewis is urging Twitter users to be wary of fake profiles after spotting one impersonating him.
The financial journalist, usually known for his words of wisdom around all things money, is now using his platform to spread awareness of 'verified' accounts after the social media platform began to charge users to keep their blue tick.
The check mark was originally enforced as a safety feature for public figure profiles to prove their authenticity, but this has all changed since April 1. Users must subscribe to Twitter Blue for £9.60 a month to keep their verification, making it a lot easier for anyone to become "verified" on the app.
The Money Saving Expert spotted a fake account with a blue tick pretending to be him and promoting cryptocurrency
Martin Lewis tweeted on Monday: "So this FAKE ACCOUNT... https://twitter.com/MartinXLewis promoting crypto has a blue tick? Lets see whether it is taken down when I report this impersonation."
The profile, which is no longer active used Lewis' name and re-tweeted a lot of Martin's own tweets in order to look authentic. Prior to being shut down, the imposter had over 23,000 followers.
The impersonator page was also trying to entice followers into investing in cryptocurrency. While there is no evidence linking the account to fraudulent activity, those who are not aware could easily mistake the fake for the real Martin Lewis and follow their unreliable financial advice.
The move is one of many overhauls being made to Twitter by new boss Elon Musk who said the changes aim to crackdown on fake profiles that are run by AI and not people. On March 28, the billionaire further announced that only verified accounts would feature in the For You section of the site - which recommends tweets and accounts to users.
Taking to Twitter of course, Musk wrote: "Starting April 15th, only verified accounts will be eligible to be in For You recommendations. The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over.
"It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason."
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