By now we’ve all heard about Elon Musk and the US$44 billion acquisition of Twitter along with the platform’s monthly subscription, Twitter Blue now provides verifications for users who purchase the subscription.

As we know, netizens have been extremely vocal in regards to the matter with many identifying the many possible problems that will come with it, and the gaming sphere has not been excluded from those problems as you will see.

Multiple high-profile individuals and companies, such as Nintendo and Twitch, are being impersonated on Twitter following the launch of the service’s new paid-for verification system.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Twitter—and if so, be glad you aren’t—Twitter independently verified and awarded certain accounts, indicated by a blue checkmark, based on them meeting certain requirements.

These accounts were deemed to be active, notable, and authentic ones of public interest, but now being verified is something that is accessible to almost anyone for a small fee of US$7.99

Twitter Blue is a monthly subscription service that enables anyone to pay to have the blue checkmark on their account without undergoing a review to confirm if they meet the active, notable and authentic criteria.

Musk previously claimed that the new system would act as a deterrent to spammers and scammers, but hours after its rollout on Wednesday we’ve quickly seen that it has done the opposite.

A fake but verified Nintendo of America account recently popped up advertising an unannounced Super Mario Galaxy game. It also published an image of Nintendo’s mascot giving the middle finger.

Can't imagine why all the advertisers are pulling out of Twitter lmao pic.twitter.com/pg55WXkxhS

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 9, 2022

In another case, a ‘verified’ Twitch account was retweeted hundreds of times after ‘announcing’ new revenue splits for creators. Other cases of this include spoof accounts for athletes, politicians, Jesus Christ and even Musk himself.

? We've heard you! After a LOT of feedback from Ambassadors and Partners the sub split will be changing from December:

? Ambassadors 80/20
? Partners 70/30
? Affiliates 60/40
? Non Affiliates 50/50

? https://t.co/ekUqEc92Nn

— twitch (@twitchparody) November 9, 2022

Potentially more worrying for the platform is evidence that the new checkmark system has reportedly been used to successfully impersonate Twitter and defraud users out of money.

The new check mark system has resulted in Threat Actors successfully impersonating Twitter and defrauding users out of money

Although the account is now suspended, it rapidly got 35,000+ retweets and 4,990 likes.

A simple $8 investment can result in thousands of dollars stolen. pic.twitter.com/uz7DHwflf6

— vx-underground (@vxunderground) November 10, 2022

In a bid to stop Twitter Blue’s relaunch from causing mass confusion over which accounts were authentic, Twitter temporarily introduced a new measure on Wednesday designed to help users distinguish between Blue subscribers with blue checkmarks and accounts that it had verified as official ones.

An ‘Official’ label, which wasn’t available for purchase, was temporarily given to certain accounts including ones for selected government agencies, commercial companies, major media outlets and some public figures, although this system was quickly scrapped hours later.

“We’re not currently putting an ‘Official’ label on accounts but we are aggressively going after impersonation and deception,” the Twitter Support account confirmed on Wednesday.

Musk summed up the current situation in a tweet on Wednesday, admitting: “Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”