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Elon Musk impersonation scams target victims — Here’s how to stay safe

Online Niel November 23, 2024

Sometimes scammers use super advanced technology, other times they just use Facebook Messenger. A Texas woman was recently targeted by a man who impersonated Tesla CEO Elon Musk to extort more than $250,000 from her. Here are the details the police department has released so far and how you can protect yourself from similar tactics.

Florida man scams woman out of more than $250,000

The Bradenton Police Department’s Elder Fraud Unit in Florida arrested ‘Elon Musk’ for grand larceny, they announced in a Facebook post. Bradenton resident and business owner Jeffrey Moynihan Jr., 56, is accused of defrauding a 74-year-old Texas woman out of $250,000. While that’s the number reflected in specific bank statements, police say the actual amount could be much higher.

“In 2023, the victim befriended ‘Elon Musk’ on Facebook,” BPD said. “They exchanged messages for several months and the victim was encouraged to invest in Musk’s businesses. He was promised a return of 55 million dollars. Financial records indicate the victim transferred $250,000 to bank accounts held by Moynihan and his business, Jeff’s Painting and Pressure Washing, LLC. The victim’s husband told investigators that his wife gave “Elon Musk” about $600,000.”

Police posted body camera footage of Moynihan being arrested at his Bradenton home on Tuesday, November 19. In the video, after officers detained him and explained they had a warrant for his arrest, Moynihan acted confused.

“Grand theft why?”, he is heard asking.

The real Elon Musk is otherwise engaged with the latest launch of his space company, SpaceX, and is not under investigation by BPD, the notice concluded. The case is now an ongoing investigation.

BPD’s Elder Fraud Unit reported investigating several fraud cases involving victims over the age of 60, totaling nearly $3 million in losses.

Similar scammers operate across the US

These scammers are not exclusive to Florida, and this is far from the first case of fraudsters using the name of the famous business giant. However, some go the extra mile to convince their targets by using artificial intelligence to imitate someone’s appearance and voice.

“My dad was scammed by a fake Elon Musk Facebook account,” one Reddit user wrote on a scam thread. “Fake Elon contacted him and told him he was chosen as the winner of a free Tesla. He actually thought he was communicating with Elon because the scammer sent a video impersonating Musk.”

The man was encouraged to send a $500 Apple gift card to “Elon” as well as shipping costs for the new Tesla to claim his gift, which he wired to Zelle. He ended up giving the scammers a total of $6,000, the Reddit post said.

“Then they said the car was being shipped through the ‘Zerok Delivery Network’, a bogus company with a real-looking website. Of course, the car never arrived. Then they disappeared.”

Another commenter said the exact same thing happened to them, calling themselves a “gullible” person living off their pension who wanted the money to buy their daughter a house. Since falling victim to the scam, the family’s phones have been tapped, and the scammers even tried to get a loan in the daughter’s name, the person said.

Another person shared a screenshot of a Facebook message they received:

message facebook messenger elon musk scams — Utah_Thom/Reddit

How to spot impersonation scams

After alerting the public to Moynihan’s arrest, BPD’s Elder Fraud Unit provided resource guide to protect you and your loved ones from these types of missiles. Here are the key points included:

Most scammers will contact you out of the blue, create a sense of urgency and offer a specific way to pay or send money.
Popular scams targeting older adults include people looking for government or technology support staff, telemarketing and robocalling, lottery or lottery and inheritance, investment schemes, love, death of spouse and funerals, home repairs and contractors, and employment .
Scammers pretend to be from an organization you know, claim there is a problem or prize, pressure you to act urgently and pay in a specific way.

How to avoid impersonation scams

There are a few ways you can prevent yourself from becoming a victim of theft.

Check out Delivery, a free service from the US Postal Service that emails letter-sized photos of mail. Helps prevent mail theft by identity thieves. You should also bring in your mail as soon as possible.
You could also consider installing a doorbell video camera (it doesn’t have to be too expensive). Don’t answer the door if you don’t recognize a visitor, and be prepared to refuse if pressured to buy or donate.
Discard receipts, credit offers, loan and credit applications, insurance forms, bank statements and similar documents when you no longer need them.
Leave your Social Security card and Medicare card at home—unless you need them for a specific reason.
Try to avoid using payment cards with magnetic stripes, as this is what credit card skimmers use to collect data. Instead, see if you can use chip cards or contactless payment methods when possible.
Every few months, review the passwords on your accounts. financial and consider using a passphrase. Keep all passwords stored somewhere safe.
Set up your phone to send calls from unknown numbers to voicemail. Log out of financial apps like Venmo, CashApp, or Zelle when you’re not using them.
Make sure your settings email addresses send unsolicited and unwanted emails to your inbox. of email to the spam folder so that future emails from that site will be blocked. Also, don’t open email attachments from companies or people you don’t fully trust.
Social media is an increasingly popular scam tool. Make your accounts private so that people you don’t know can’t see your account details. Set your Facebook profile so that only your friends can see your page by clicking the down arrow button in the upper right corner of your Facebook account, then clicking Settings & privacy and Privacy check. You should also never accept friend requests or reply to messages from people you don’t know, even if they claim to be a famous person.