Elon Musk's Unexpected Change of Twitter.com to X.com Raised Phishing Scam Concerns

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GERMANY-US-INTERNET-TECH-X-TWITTER-MUSK
A photo taken on March 11, 2024 shows the logo of US online social media and social networking service X - formerly Twitter - on a smartphone screen in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. Since his tumultuous takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk has made an unabashed turn to the right politically, defying the orthodoxy that Silicon Valley is a citadel of well-heeled liberals beholden to Democrats. Long considered non-identifiable ideologically, Musk's politics are now hardline right wing as he uses his platform (now called X) to stoke the themes cherished by Fox News, conservative talk radio and far right movements across the West. Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk's company, X, has initiated a major change on its platform by replacing references to Twitter.com with X.com, causing confusion among users and raising concerns about phishing scams. According to Gizmodo, the changes automatically transformed Twitter.com URLs into X.com across X's iOS app.

Why Twitter.com to X.com Could Scam Users?

These changes, however, also made URLs like "NetfliTwitter.com" appear as "Netflix.com."

Therefore, this adjustment inadvertently created opportunities for scammers to deceive users, prompting vigilant X users to preemptively purchase domains like "NetfliTwitter.com" and "seTwitter.com" to prevent malicious activities.

When X changed URLs like "NetfliTwitter.com" to "Netflix.com" in posts, users who clicked on these modified links were redirected to domains like "NetfliTwitter.com" instead of the legitimate Netflix website. Scammers could exploit this situation by purchasing similar domains and conducting phishing campaigns to trick users into revealing their login credentials or other sensitive information.

This confusion and redirection increased the likelihood of users falling victim to phishing attacks, making them vulnerable to online scams.

While X has reportedly reversed these automatic changes, questions remain about the potential risks associated with such changes and their impact on user safety.

Meanwhile, X users suggest receiving warning messages or indicators to notify them when a URL has been converted. These warnings should alert users to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of the redirected link before proceeding.

Elon Musk and X have yet to respond to these issues.

Tags
Elon Musk, Twitter, X

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