Cybercriminals Flood Dark Web With X (Twitter) Gold Accounts

Cybercriminals are compromising and reselling verified X "Gold" accounts — via brute-force, credential-stealing malware, and hijacking dormant organizational profiles — to deploy phishing, disinformation, and financial scams. Underground marketplaces list hundreds of accounts (priced $35–$2,000), and the report highlights an incident where compromised high-profile account tweets led to roughly $691,000 in crypto theft; recommended defenses include active brand monitoring and stronger password controls.