Changing your display name to Elon Musk will now get you locked out of Twitter

Twitter will now automatically lock any unverified handle that changed its display name to Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

In a bid to combat increasing cryptocurrency scams, if any unverified account is not linked to a phone number and changes its name to Musk, their account will be immediately locked down.

To regain the key to the account, the user will have to pass a CAPTCHA test that Twitter will generate, and provide a contact number as well.

In a statement given to The Verge, a Twitter spokesperson said this system is part of the company’s continuing efforts to combat malicious activity and that it was working on even newer measures to challenge the same.

But once the user is able to confirm his/her account’s authenticity, Twitter actually lets him/her keep the display name as Elon Musk. This is because the system is actually put in place to combat the infinite number of bots on the site. These bots mimic Musk’s quite-lively Twitter profile to scam users in replies to his tweets.

These scammers usually insert their tweets as replies to Musk’s actual tweets, so these end up looking like a threaded reply. The tweets all have the same voice – an once-in-a-lifetime chance to get rich by investing in some new technology or scheme. A user will have to pay a small sum of money in return for new cryptocurrency tokens never heard of before.

Although most users do not fall for these tricks, there are many Musk fans who actually do. The rising hype around blockchain and the rising prices of cryptocurrencies are major contributing factors.

Earlier this month, the real Musk complimented the ‘skillz’ of the scammers targeting his profile.

My friends am admiration work hard technology innovate. Please send bit coin I am excellent work hard technology study differential equation

— Weihan Zhang (@liangweihan4) July 8, 2018

This guy asking @elonmusk for bit coin is my new idol. https://t.co/ujUyEQtNXx

— John McMahon (@IAmJohnMcMahon) July 8, 2018

I want to know who is running the Etherium scambots! Mad skillz …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2018

Twitter has been trying to fight bots for months, maybe even years, but the reality is that scammers are creating these bots at a faster rate than the company can lock them. As a result, Twitter acquired cybersecurity startup Smyte, in June, to effectively address challenges in safety and spam.