from Hacker News

My deleted Twitter account was instantly taken over by crypto scammers

by alin23 on 3/20/25, 8:56 AM with 6 comments

Link to a tweet allegedly made by me: https://x.com/alinp32/status/1902159506257146353

A few months ago I deactivated my Twitter/X accounts because I got tired of the community there. After the expiration date has passed, the username was immediately snatched, gone through the “blue checkmark” process (I never had one) and started posting cryptocoin pumping content.

They kept my profile exactly the same to keep it looking trustworthy.

I guess this is just a PSA for people thinking about doing the same, best to keep your account and just not use it instead of having to explain yourself to people that followed you.

  • by rsynnott on 3/20/25, 12:42 PM

    Huh, just checked. My previously deleted account is now a suspended account, so I suppose probably it was taken over by scammers for a while.

  • by BLKNSLVR on 3/20/25, 10:01 AM

    So, after deactivation and the expiry time, it doesn't reset the account or require and kind of verification to prove you were the prior owner, it just keeps everything as it was before?

  • by mkgiga on 3/20/25, 9:11 AM

    Since twitter shafted their REST api, does that mean that these bots just scrape the site 24/7 and constantly check for when users deactivate?