Let's take a look at a technique employed by some Twitter impersonation accounts: replacing "rn" with "m" in the name of the clone as seen here with @propornot/@propomot. Unless one has good eyesight and looks closely, it's easy to miss.
cc: @ZellaQuixote
cc: @ZellaQuixote
(we've previously covered a group of accounts impersonating the #AltGov accounts that used a similar technique here)
We searched through our accumulated datasets for account names containing "rn", pulled the profile information for the equivalent account with "rn" replaced with "m", and looked for cases where the two accounts had similar profiles.
We found 8 impostors using this technique (one is excluded from the table as they are not a public figure.)
Let's take a look at a few of them. First up: @BemieSanders, a fake @BernieSanders account. This is likely the product of a 4chan afficionado due to the presence of Sam Hyde (frequently presented as a fake mass shooting suspect). #ASeriesOfUn4chanateEvents.
Even the members of Putin's United Russia party are not immune to being impersonated on Twitter, although fake account @EmestMakarenko is considerably quieter than the real @ErnestMakarenko.
Rounding out the set, we have the @jonnybemthal, @kierantiemey1, @patrickcamey, and @bobohstem, who are impersonating actor @jonnybernthal, athlete @kierantierney1, musician @patrickcarney, and former Howard Stern regular @bobohstern respectively.
We'll close this one out with a PSA to legitimate account holders with "rn" or "m" in their names: keep an eye out for this bit of trickery.
