- A Redditor says their mother is the victim of a scam to the tune of $50k-$75k.
- The elderly woman allegedly believed she was sending money to Elon Musk.
- Scams related to the billionaire are all too common across all of the internet.
If there’s anyone on Earth who can safely say they don’t need another cent, it’s the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. Yet that hasn’t stopped the internet from being flooded with scams using his name, face, and fame as bait.
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One woman in Washington allegedly became the latest victim, losing tens of thousands of dollars to someone pretending to be the tech billionaire.
Their child went to Reddit seeking advice after discovering that she reportedly sent somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000 to someone she thought was the Tesla CEO.
Posting first on R/legaladvice and then, following users’ suggestions, on R/Scams, the user explained that his mother had been communicating with someone posing as Musk. The imposter persuaded her to send money via Apple Gift Cards and cryptocurrency. She had come to believe that Musk was secretly in love with her and planning to whisk her away to an island home in the not-too-distant future.
Read: Tesla Camera Captures Man Faking Accident, Would-be Scammer Gets Arrested
“My mom is 80 years old, and recently I found a bunch of unpaid bills, including a 28k mortgage on a previously paid off two-story house with a fireplace,” they wrote.
According to the post, a letter from the mortgage company, Shellpoint, revealed that she hadn’t made payments in ten months and was only days from foreclosure. “I paid 2555 to get it up to date, but she still owes a few other companies thousands here and there”, they continued.
Technology Fueling Deception
Sadly, this type of scam is all too prevalent online. In one similar case reported by Fox 4, a Florida man went to jail 10 months ago after allegedly scamming one Texas woman out of $600,000 by pretending to be Musk. In that case, the scammer reportedly told the woman that the money would ultimately net her a $55 million return. Dozens of comparable schemes are still circulating online as we speak.
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Deep fake technology and artificial intelligence are making it easier than ever to create realistic videos of Musk saying whatever scammers want him to. According to CBS Texas, scams related to Elon Musk account for billions lost every year.
In the Washington case, commenters have urged the Redditor to contact Adult Protective Services and consult a lawyer to protect his mother’s home and finances. We’ve reached out for more information and will update this story if we hear more.
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