Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 3:22 PM

Ever since Twitter developed a system in 2009 for authenticating celebrity accounts, following a lawsuit by then-St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa over the unauthorized use of his name, the microblogging site's blue-and-white "Verified Badge" has become an authoritative imprimatur -- the surest way to tell whether an account is genuine or fake.
But the system is under greater scrutiny today after the administrator of an account allegedly belonging to Wendi Deng Murdoch, which briefly received the Verified Badge after launching on Sunday, admitted that she was not, in fact, the wife of News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, who had joined Twitter right before the New Year with his own verified account. Before the revelation, news outlets had dissected Rupert and Wendi's splashy appearance on the social networking site tweet by tweet (Rupert praised Rick Santorum and Fox films, while Wendi advised her beloved Rupert on Twitter etiquette, flirted with the likes of Ricky Gervais, and overused exclamation points and smiley faces). The Guardian even quoted an anonymous News Corp. spokesman as confirming the authenticity of Wendi's account (the company has since walked back the claim).
On Tuesday, fake Wendi Deng marveled at how easy it was to fool people. "I was as surprised -- and even a little alarmed -- when I saw the Verified tick appear on the profile," the administrator reflected, adding that Twitter hadn't been in touch prior to issuing the badge and that the site "should be checking out its Verified status more carefully." The account's bio now reads, "Verifiably not @rupertmurdoch's wife. Unless you're Twitter. Or News International. SPOOF ACCOUNT." The Guardian is now reporting that a British man living in London is behind the hoax.
Twitter isn't saying much about the mishap, telling The Atlantic Wire, "We don't comment on our verification process but can confirm that the @wendi_deng account was mistakenly verified for a short period of time." In fact, Twitter has revealed little about how its verification process works over the years, informing the Wall Street Journal in March 2011 that "we continue to very selectively verify accounts most at risk for impersonation on a one-off basis and highly irregular basis" but refusing to elaborate (the paper noted that some celebrities have been verified after reaching a certain number of followers, while others have had their managers contact Twitter directly to verify their accounts). Twitter's Verified Accounts page explains that the company is no longer accepting public requests for verification.
The Deng debacle has people questioning Twitter's security and ability to expose impersonators. TechCrunch observes that while Twitter often verifies celebrities with a web presence by making sure a star's website links to his or her Twitter account, the company, in the case of Wendi Deng's account, appears to have "trusted the numerous media reports claiming the account's legitimacy instead." And those media reports, in turn, only quickened when Twitter verified the account. A vicious cycle, with one howling British man in the middle of it all.
This is not new, I have heard of celebs who had to weed out the fakes. On the flip, a normal kid with the same name as a NBA player got his account closed - but he fought twitter to get it back. Seems silly, but a lot of ears and eyes follow social media these days so the ones with fame need to make sure no fakers are stealing their limelight.
Wonder if the fake Wendi was spamming her followers with sponsored tweets?
LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- An account on the social networking website Twitter which claimed to be Wendi Deng Murdoch, the wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, was revealed to be fake on Tuesday after a series of bizarre messages.
The account, @Wendi_Deng, first appeared on Sunday and received a blue tick on Monday. The blue tick, a so-called Verified Badge, is used by Twitter to establish the authenticity of well known accounts so users can trust that a legitimate source is authoring their Tweets.
The fake Twitter profile emerged shortly after Rupert Murdoch joined the popular website on Saturday evening under the account name @rupertmurdoch. A spokeswoman for News Corporation initially confirmed that both @rupertmurdoch and @Wendi_Deng were authentic, but the spokeswoman on Tuesday admitted that she was wrong about Wendi Deng's account.
It was not immediately clear how @Wendi_Deng became a verified account, and the mistake raised questions about the secret verification process which Twitter uses. "We don't comment on our verification process but can confirm that the @wendi_deng account was mistakenly verified for a short period of time," Twitter spokeswoman Rachel Bremer said. "We apologize for the confusion this caused."
After News Corporation confirmed Wendi Deng was not behind the account, the anonymous writer posted a series of messages to apologize to anyone who felt misled. "As News International (a division of News Corporation) has finally come to their senses, it's time to confirm that yes, this is a fake account," one of the messages read. "I'm not Wendi. But you do have to wonder why they were unsure for so long."
The person behind the fake account added: "And you have to wonder even more why Twitter verified this account for a full day. I never received any communication from them about this. I was as surprised - and even a little alarmed - when I saw the Verified tick appear on the profile."
Other messages added: "To those of you who kept maintaining the account was fake, even after being verified, good on you for being suspicious. Above all, this was a bit of fun. If you don't think it was, then you'd better ask Twitter to remove every other spoof account too. But I'm definitely not married to Rupert Murdoch. The thought terrifies me. Imagine his whispered sweet nothings."
Questions about the authenticity of the account were raised on Monday evening when Twitter removed the verified tick. The person behind @Wendi_Deng had claimed to be introducing her husband to Twitter, but it later emerged that the account had been created after @rupertmurdoch.
"@wendi_deng's account was created a day after his," said Tim Haines, the founder of the website Favstar.fm which allows people to find popular tweets. "@wendi_deng was about @rupertmurdoch's 20,000th follower."
The @Wendi_Deng page raised eyebrows when a message was addressed to @rupertmurdoch, telling him to delete a tweet which said: "Maybe the Brits have too many holidays for a broke country!" Rupert Murdoch later deleted the tweet, after which @Wendi_Deng added: "EVERY1 @rupertmurdoch was only having a joke pROMSIE!!!" (sic).
Rupert Murdoch's message stating that British people have 'too many holidays' received widespread media coverage. The reports often also included the response sent from @Wendi_Deng. Another tweet from @Wendi_Deng which received media coverage was addressed to English actor Ricky Gervais and said: "i think you look HOT ricky!!! (sssh dont tell @rupertmurdoch!)"
It is believed to be the first time that Twitter accidentally verified a spoof account. As of Tuesday, the social networking website has about 16,660 verified accounts, many of which are celebrities, politicians, businesses, government agencies and law enforcement.
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LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- An account on the social networking website Twitter which claimed to be Wendi Deng Murdoch, the wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, was revealed to be fake on Tuesday after a series of bizarre messages.
The account, @Wendi_Deng, first appeared on Sunday and received a blue tick on Monday. The blue tick, a so-called Verified Badge, is used by Twitter to establish the authenticity of well known accounts so users can trust that a legitimate source is authoring their Tweets.
The fake Twitter profile emerged shortly after Rupert Murdoch joined the popular website on Saturday evening under the account name @rupertmurdoch. A spokeswoman for News Corporation initially confirmed that both @rupertmurdoch and @Wendi_Deng were authentic, but the spokeswoman on Tuesday admitted that she was wrong about Wendi Deng's account.
It was not immediately clear how @Wendi_Deng became a verified account, and the mistake raised questions about the secret verification process which Twitter uses. "We don't comment on our verification process but can confirm that the @wendi_deng account was mistakenly verified for a short period of time," Twitter spokeswoman Rachel Bremer said. "We apologize for the confusion this caused."
After News Corporation confirmed Wendi Deng was not behind the account, the anonymous writer posted a series of messages to apologize to anyone who felt misled. "As News International (a division of News Corporation) has finally come to their senses, it's time to confirm that yes, this is a fake account," one of the messages read. "I'm not Wendi. But you do have to wonder why they were unsure for so long."
The person behind the fake account added: "And you have to wonder even more why Twitter verified this account for a full day. I never received any communication from them about this. I was as surprised - and even a little alarmed - when I saw the Verified tick appear on the profile."
Other messages added: "To those of you who kept maintaining the account was fake, even after being verified, good on you for being suspicious. Above all, this was a bit of fun. If you don't think it was, then you'd better ask Twitter to remove every other spoof account too. But I'm definitely not married to Rupert Murdoch. The thought terrifies me. Imagine his whispered sweet nothings."
Questions about the authenticity of the account were raised on Monday evening when Twitter removed the verified tick. The person behind @Wendi_Deng had claimed to be introducing her husband to Twitter, but it later emerged that the account had been created after @rupertmurdoch.
"@wendi_deng's account was created a day after his," said Tim Haines, the founder of the website Favstar.fm which allows people to find popular tweets. "@wendi_deng was about @rupertmurdoch's 20,000th follower."
The @Wendi_Deng page raised eyebrows when a message was addressed to @rupertmurdoch, telling him to delete a tweet which said: "Maybe the Brits have too many holidays for a broke country!" Rupert Murdoch later deleted the tweet, after which @Wendi_Deng added: "EVERY1 @rupertmurdoch was only having a joke pROMSIE!!!" (sic).
Rupert Murdoch's message stating that British people have 'too many holidays' received widespread media coverage. The reports often also included the response sent from @Wendi_Deng. Another tweet from @Wendi_Deng which received media coverage was addressed to English actor Ricky Gervais and said: "i think you look HOT ricky!!! (sssh dont tell @rupertmurdoch!)"
It is believed to be the first time that Twitter accidentally verified a spoof account. As of Tuesday, the social networking website has about 16,660 verified accounts, many of which are celebrities, politicians, businesses, government agencies and law enforcement.LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- An account on the social networking website Twitter which claimed to be Wendi Deng Murdoch, the wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, was revealed to be fake on Tuesday after a series of bizarre messages.
The account, @Wendi_Deng, first appeared on Sunday and received a blue tick on Monday. The blue tick, a so-called Verified Badge, is used by Twitter to establish the authenticity of well known accounts so users can trust that a legitimate source is authoring their Tweets.
The fake Twitter profile emerged shortly after Rupert Murdoch joined the popular website on Saturday evening under the account name @rupertmurdoch. A spokeswoman for News Corporation initially confirmed that both @rupertmurdoch and @Wendi_Deng were authentic, but the spokeswoman on Tuesday admitted that she was wrong about Wendi Deng's account.
It was not immediately clear how @Wendi_Deng became a verified account, and the mistake raised questions about the secret verification process which Twitter uses. "We don't comment on our verification process but can confirm that the @wendi_deng account was mistakenly verified for a short period of time," Twitter spokeswoman Rachel Bremer said. "We apologize for the confusion this caused."
After News Corporation confirmed Wendi Deng was not behind the account, the anonymous writer posted a series of messages to apologize to anyone who felt misled. "As News International (a division of News Corporation) has finally come to their senses, it's time to confirm that yes, this is a fake account," one of the messages read. "I'm not Wendi. But you do have to wonder why they were unsure for so long."
The person behind the fake account added: "And you have to wonder even more why Twitter verified this account for a full day. I never received any communication from them about this. I was as surprised - and even a little alarmed - when I saw the Verified tick appear on the profile."
Other messages added: "To those of you who kept maintaining the account was fake, even after being verified, good on you for being suspicious. Above all, this was a bit of fun. If you don't think it was, then you'd better ask Twitter to remove every other spoof account too. But I'm definitely not married to Rupert Murdoch. The thought terrifies me. Imagine his whispered sweet nothings."
Questions about the authenticity of the account were raised on Monday evening when Twitter removed the verified tick. The person behind @Wendi_Deng had claimed to be introducing her husband to Twitter, but it later emerged that the account had been created after @rupertmurdoch.
"@wendi_deng's account was created a day after his," said Tim Haines, the founder of the website Favstar.fm which allows people to find popular tweets. "@wendi_deng was about @rupertmurdoch's 20,000th follower."
The @Wendi_Deng page raised eyebrows when a message was addressed to @rupertmurdoch, telling him to delete a tweet which said: "Maybe the Brits have too many holidays for a broke country!" Rupert Murdoch later deleted the tweet, after which @Wendi_Deng added: "EVERY1 @rupertmurdoch was only having a joke pROMSIE!!!" (sic).
Rupert Murdoch's message stating that British people have 'too many holidays' received widespread media coverage. The reports often also included the response sent from @Wendi_Deng. Another tweet from @Wendi_Deng which received media coverage was addressed to English actor Ricky Gervais and said: "i think you look HOT ricky!!! (sssh dont tell @rupertmurdoch!)"
It is believed to be the first time that Twitter accidentally verified a spoof account. As of Tuesday, the social networking website has about 16,660 verified accounts, many of which are celebrities, politicians, businesses, government agencies and law enforcement.LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- An account on the social networking website Twitter which claimed to be Wendi Deng Murdoch, the wife of News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, was revealed to be fake on Tuesday after a series of bizarre messages.
The account, @Wendi_Deng, first appeared on Sunday and received a blue tick on Monday. The blue tick, a so-called Verified Badge, is used by Twitter to establish the authenticity of well known accounts so users can trust that a legitimate source is authoring their Tweets.
The fake Twitter profile emerged shortly after Rupert Murdoch joined the popular website on Saturday evening under the account name @rupertmurdoch. A spokeswoman for News Corporation initially confirmed that both @rupertmurdoch and @Wendi_Deng were authentic, but the spokeswoman on Tuesday admitted that she was wrong about Wendi Deng's account.
It was not immediately clear how @Wendi_Deng became a verified account, and the mistake raised questions about the secret verification process which Twitter uses. "We don't comment on our verification process but can confirm that the @wendi_deng account was mistakenly verified for a short period of time," Twitter spokeswoman Rachel Bremer said. "We apologize for the confusion this caused."
After News Corporation confirmed Wendi Deng was not behind the account, the anonymous writer posted a series of messages to apologize to anyone who felt misled. "As News International (a division of News Corporation) has finally come to their senses, it's time to confirm that yes, this is a fake account," one of the messages read. "I'm not Wendi. But you do have to wonder why they were unsure for so long."
The person behind the fake account added: "And you have to wonder even more why Twitter verified this account for a full day. I never received any communication from them about this. I was as surprised - and even a little alarmed - when I saw the Verified tick appear on the profile."
Other messages added: "To those of you who kept maintaining the account was fake, even after being verified, good on you for being suspicious. Above all, this was a bit of fun. If you don't think it was, then you'd better ask Twitter to remove every other spoof account too. But I'm definitely not married to Rupert Murdoch. The thought terrifies me. Imagine his whispered sweet nothings."
Questions about the authenticity of the account were raised on Monday evening when Twitter removed the verified tick. The person behind @Wendi_Deng had claimed to be introducing her husband to Twitter, but it later emerged that the account had been created after @rupertmurdoch.
"@wendi_deng's account was created a day after his," said Tim Haines, the founder of the website Favstar.fm which allows people to find popular tweets. "@wendi_deng was about @rupertmurdoch's 20,000th follower."
The @Wendi_Deng page raised eyebrows when a message was addressed to @rupertmurdoch, telling him to delete a tweet which said: "Maybe the Brits have too many holidays for a broke country!" Rupert Murdoch later deleted the tweet, after which @Wendi_Deng added: "EVERY1 @rupertmurdoch was only having a joke pROMSIE!!!" (sic).
Rupert Murdoch's message stating that British people have 'too many holidays' received widespread media coverage. The reports often also included the response sent from @Wendi_Deng. Another tweet from @Wendi_Deng which received media coverage was addressed to English actor Ricky Gervais and said: "i think you look HOT ricky!!! (sssh dont tell @rupertmurdoch!)"
It is believed to be the first time that Twitter accidentally verified a spoof account. As of Tuesday, the social networking website has about 16,660 verified accounts, many of which are celebrities, politicians, businesses, government agencies and law enforcement.
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