CHICAGO — Fake city of Chicago accounts are already creating confusion among residents just a day after Twitter took away blue verification checkmarks.
Accounts pretending to be for the Mayor’s Office and the city’s Department of Transportation falsely tweeted early Friday that DuSable Lake Shore Drive is permanently closing.
“We’re excited to announce that beginning 5/2/23, North DuSable Lake Shore Drive will be closed to private vehicles between Grand and Hollywood,” the fake CDOT account tweeted.
It was then retweeted by a fake Mayor Lori Lightfoot account.
As of Friday afternoon, the fake CDOT tweet had been shared more than 90 times and was seen by more than 170,000 people, according to Twitter.
The fake Lightfoot account, @chicagossmayor, was suspended by Twitter — but not before being screenshot and flagged by Tribune reporter Jake Sheridan.
Lightfoot’s official Twitter is @chicagosmayor, with one S. The transportation department’s official account is @ChicagoDOT.
Mayor’s Office spokesperson Ryan Johnson said he is aware of the fake accounts and that Chicagoans can verify city social media accounts at chi.gov/social.
Twitter’s blue verification checks, which were used to confirm an account was legitimate, started disappearing from many high-profile accounts Thursday.
Under Elon Musk’s leadership, the company now wants organizations to pay $1,000 per month to have their accounts verified by the platform. Individuals can get their accounts verified by paying the company $84 per year or $8 per month.
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