X

Twitter bans financial scams in new policy

Don't believe every tweet you read.

Queenie Wong Former Senior Writer
Queenie Wong was a senior writer for CNET News, focusing on social media companies including Facebook's parent company Meta, Twitter and TikTok. Before joining CNET, she worked for The Mercury News in San Jose and the Statesman Journal in Salem, Oregon. A native of Southern California, she took her first journalism class in middle school.
Expertise I've been writing about social media since 2015 but have previously covered politics, crime and education. I also have a degree in studio art. Credentials
  • 2022 Eddie award for consumer analysis
Queenie Wong
twitter-hq-headquarters-02098-2

Twitter has a new policy about financial scams. 

James Martin/CNET

Twitter is cracking down on financial scams.

On Monday, the social media site unveiled a policy that prohibits using "scam tactics" to get money or private financial information from others. Some of these tactics include creating fake accounts to pose as a public figure or organization, saying they'll send a larger amount of money in return for a smaller payment, offering fraudulent discounts, and impersonating banks or other financial information. 

The move illustrates how Twitter is stepping up its efforts against a persistent problem on its platform. Scammers have used the platform to masquerade as high-profile figures such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk to promote cryptocurrency scams in the past. 

The policy doesn't prohibit complaints about goods, disputed refunds and claims related to sales of products. 

Users can also report people who violate this policy by clicking on a gray downward arrow, selecting "report tweet" and selecting "it's spam or suspicious."

Depending on the severity of the scam, Twitter might lock a user's account, provide warnings about a URL, permanently bar an account or take other actions.

The policy, which was written internally in July, takes effect Monday.