Since the announcement of the new Twitter owner Elon Musk the $8 account verification on Nov. 5, some people took advantage and created fake accounts in the names of huge companies costing them billions.
American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly's stock fell 4.37% and the company lost $30 billion after a fake account called @EliLillyandCo tweeted: "We are excited to announce insulin is free now."
Did Twitter Blue tweet just cost Eli Lilly $LLY billions?
— Rafael Shimunov is on Mastodon (@rafaelshimunov) November 11, 2022
Yes. pic.twitter.com/w4RtJwgCVK
Eli Lilly and Company's real Twitter account apologized for the previous tweet saying it was a misleading message from a fake account. However, many people got upset as the fake account has the same name claiming it was also verified.
According to WHO, around 422 million people have diabetes worldwide, most of which live in low- and middle-income countries.
We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad.
— Eli Lilly and Company (@LillyPad) November 10, 2022
The giant Lockheed Martin was also negatively affected by Elon Musk's $8 verification policy after a fake account in the name of the US aerospace, arms and defence company shared a Tweet about halting some weapons sales to some countries.
A tweet by a "@LockheedMartini" account read: "We will begin halting weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States until further investigation into their records of human rights abuses."
Did an unnamed hero cost Lockheed Martin billions using Twitter?
— Read Jackson Rising by @CooperationJXN (@JoshuaPHilll) November 11, 2022
Looks like it. pic.twitter.com/KACCsNbiMx
Lockheed Martin's stock fell sharply after the fake announcement of the weapons sales ban to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Experts believe that the company lost billions after the fake tweet.
SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO announced to permanently suspend any Twitter account engaging in impersonation. Elon Musk became the new owner of the social media company 'Twitter' in a $44 billion deal on Oct. 27.
