How to Know If a Twitter Bot Is Impersonating You on the Internet
Twitter bots have been around for almost as long as Twitter itself, and many of them are funny , provocative, or downright useful . But like everything else on the Internet, there is a dark side to the world of Twitter bots, as a recent report by The New York Times made clear.
This is why you need to beware of Twitter bots imitators, how to find them, and what you can do about them.
The dark side of Twitter bots
The Times report focuses on Devumi, one of dozens of companies that buy and sell Twitter bots to anyone looking for more followers, retweets or likes. Many of these bots are designed to impersonate real people on Twitter, often copying accounts that have not been used in years and making a few small changes to stay unnoticed for as long as possible.
One bot, modeled after a college student, helped share pornography and online gambling. Another, posing as a Florida assistant executive, retweeted the posts of both pornstars and influencers on Twitter.
These bots can ruin your online reputation even if you don’t even notice. Worse, impersonating someone on Twitter can cost you a new job if a recruiter finds a bot and mistakes it for you.
How to find your Twitter bot
Twitter does not offer any official tools for verifying impersonations, and bots can trick a social network for years before being caught by its algorithms. Luckily, there are a few tricks you can use to hunt down any Twitter bots you may have before it’s too late.
One trick used by bot creators is to slightly change the account descriptor by replacing the lowercase “L” with an uppercase “I” (or vice versa). The two are nearly impossible to tell apart, but you can find your bots by searching for your Twitter username after the same spelling switch.
Another trick, according to the Times , is to add an underline at the end of the username or somewhere in the middle. Try also searching your Twitter handle with these changes and see if anything comes up.
Finally, you can try doing a reverse lookup for your Twitter profile picture and background image. Most imitation bots copy these images exactly, so a quick search might reveal something.
How to report a spoofed Twitter bot
When it comes to impersonating other people, Twitter’s rules are pretty clear . The company allows spoof accounts , but this must be clearly stated in both the bio and the title.
If the simulator does not meet these requirements, you can report it on this page . Twitter will ask you to explain the problem and provide a link to the problematic account. You can also upload your own government-issued photo ID to verify your identity. This can help speed up the process of removing your bot, but it is not required.