‘Imposter’ commuter rail Twitter account trolls unsuspecting riders
“This is an imposter account and we're actively working with Twitter to get this account shut down."
For anyone who has tweeted at the MBTA Commuter Rail Twitter account recently and received a response that may have seemed a little bit off, that’s because there was an “imposter account” afoot.The potential confusion may have come from the handle name. The MBTA account has a single underscore – @MBTA_CR – but the apparent imposter had a second underscore – @MBTA__CR. The account, called MBTA Commuter Fail, has since been suspended. Over the last week, the fake account replied to tweets from riders, offering responses that appeared sarcastic in nature. Because the account has been suspended, they’re no longer viewable, but WBZ NewsRadio captured one reply in a screenshot.“It’s always disappointing for us when we let you guys down by somehow creating traffic on the routes we schedule but alas, we are working to fix it!” the Commuter Fail account
said in a reply to an alert about a delay on the Kingston line Thursday morning. The fake reply even came with initials, in this case “MM,” as the real account’s tweets often do.
Please disregard anything this account, @MBTA__CR posts. This is an imposter account and we’re actively working with Twitter to get this account shut down. Thank you all for your patience. ^MM
— MBTA Commuter Rail (@MBTA_CR) February 27, 2020
“Please disregard anything this account, @MBTA__CR posts,” a reply from the real commuter rail account said. “This is an imposter account and we’re actively working with Twitter to get this account shut down. Thank you all for your patience. ^MM”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com