Researchers: Twitter list-based crypto scams caused $870,000 in losses within a year

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, researchers at San Diego State University have developed a fully automated fraud detection system called GiveawayScamHunter. The system found that from June 2022 to June 2023, 87,617 accounts on the X platform (formerly Twitter) created 95,111 scam lists.

It is reported that the Twitter Lists feature effectively organizes users' followers, people of interest, tags, and topics, helping them focus on important matters. Users can customize, organize, and prioritize the tweets they see on their timeline. Users can add other users to lists without permission, and the only way to remove themselves from a list is to block the creator, which provides an opportunity for scammers.

According to a research paper published on August 10, "more than 365 victims were targeted by free cryptocurrency scams, resulting in an estimated economic loss of $870,000," and such issues have not been fully resolved.

The team concluded that although they reported the results and account information to the X platform, as of the time of writing, nearly 44% of the accounts posting spam remain active.