X changes how you 'block' people, solving a nasty Twitter exploit used by scammers

Trolls and scammers will no longer be able to target your account with hidden replies by 'pre-blocking' you

X is finally changing the way the “block” button works, and it’s very good news for everyone – except trolls and scammers who had exploited the old Twitter platform.

I called this old exploit a “pre-block” when it targeted my followers. Let me give you an example. Previously, users could block my helpful @mattswider account, yet still reply to one of my posts, often my PS5 restock in 2021 or PlayStation Portal restock in 2023 alerts.

“DM me, I have one in stock,” a Twitter scammer already blocking me would reply to either my post or the reply of one of my followers who didn’t get a console. This would always lead desperate PS5 seekers to a convincing CashApp scam in a DM for, surprise, no PS5 console in return. Combined, PlayStation fans lost millions of dollars (not a typo) to these social media scams.

Because I was blocked from seeing their scam reply, the artful messages targeting my followers were always hidden from me (I had to use Incognito to see the message, then type in the root account username just to block and report them. It was time-consuming). I began attaching “All Twitter ‘sellers’ = scams” to my tweets even though I was character-limited back then and had more to say.

X changes the block button

Now, according to the official X Engineering account, “If a user who has blocked you replies to one of your posts, you will now be able to see their reply.” I can’t tell you how many times I asked the old Twitter PR team to pass this vulnerability on and it was ignored (the only reply I got was “OK, but can you help me get a PS5?” from one Twitter PR rep in a DM).

According to X, today’s change “enables you to identify and report any potential bad content that you previously could not view, safeguarding both your account and the overall integrity of our platform.”

X still has problems with SPAM, trolls and scams, but this will be one of the more helpful features the team has implemented since Elon Musk took over Twitter and renamed it X. Going forward, it’ll be easier to quickly block and report offenders who try the now-outdated pre-block tactic.