Eli Lilly posted an odd message via Twitter today. The company apologized for a false tweet in the form of a fake account in which a person pretending to be the company’s spokesperson wrote, “We are excited to announce insulin is free now.”
The company sells insulin, and it’s not free.
Eli Lilly stock falling sharply
Eli Lilly (real handle @LillyPad) can blame the changes at Twitter that were made after Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition for confusion. The pranksters quickly created an authentic-looking Twitter account, complete with the blue checkmark that identifies the fake username “EliLillyandCo”,–by paying an annual fee of $8 per month to subscribe to Twitter Blue. The new service, introduced under the name of Musk, is accompanied by an old blue checkmark indicating that accounts were legitimate.
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A few hours after the fake news post, Eli Lilly’s stock dropped quickly. The extent of the decline due to the fake post is still being determined. Similarly, Lockheed Martin shares fell following a fake account, this time using Twitter Blue, claiming that the company was halting weapons sales in certain countries.
Companies that make games like Nintendo along with Valve were as well targets by pranksters who used Twitter Blue, as were famous athletes, such as NBA LeBron James, a star in the NBA (pretending to request an exchange) along with Major League Baseball pitcher Aroldis Chapman (claiming that he signed a contract that he did not sign).
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Twitter Blue was down on Friday following the surge of fake accounts.
Blue checks from Twitter under Musk
Before Musk assumed control over the company, people started using blue checks to identify legitimate accounts, which were made available to anyone Twitter believed to be reliable and notable.
On November. 5, Twitter launched the Twitter Blue program, which stated in an update for its application for Apple iOS gadgets that users would be able to receive a blue checkmark in front of their names “just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.”
The incident opened the doors to Pranksters, who tried to troll drug companies and Twitter in the instance of the Eli Lilly trickery.
Pharma companies have become increasingly tense over the price of insulin and other medications. That helped lead to the Inflation Reduction Act–President Joe Biden’s comprehensive health care, climate, and tax legislation–including a provision capping the out-of-pocket cost for insulin at $35 a month (for Medicare beneficiaries at least).
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Eli Lilly didn’t mention insulin or prices in its explanatory note on its official Twitter account. Instead, it wrote, “We apologize to those who have received false information from an untrusted Lilly account. LillyPad is our official Twitter account.”
Eli Lilly faced more scams from false Twitter accounts, the latest time using “LillyPadCo,” Insider reported. In addition, pretending to be the official account, the fake account apologized for its first fake post, saying that Humalog is a diabetes medication sold through Eli Lilly.
” It is now 400 dollars. You can take it whenever we’d like. There’s no way you can make about it. Do it.”
Lilly’s spokesperson said that the company said to Fortune, “We are deeply committed to making sure that our customers and patients receive the correct information regarding our medications.
Recently, fake or parody Twitter accounts associated with Lilly have been circulating false information. We’re striving to fix this problem.”
