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An impersonator pretending to be Elon Musk scammed a 69-year-old woman from Formosa, Brazil, out of $26,000 by convincing her they were in a romantic relationship, according to The Daily Mail. The woman met the con man on Facebook and communicated with him over Telegram for three months, during which he gained her trust. She even saved his contact as "My Love Elon" on her phone.
Goias Civil Police Chief José Sena said that the scammer promised the woman gifts like flowers and jewelry that never arrived and requested money to fuel his "aircraft." Initially, the woman made small bank transfers of around $172 and $517. Later, she was persuaded to take out loans totaling approximately $26,561, which she transferred to accounts under fake names.
The scam was uncovered by her children when they found text messages about plans to sell her house for $86,000. The fraudster had promised a return of over $600,000 from a supposed investment platform after the sale. Sena suspects the scam may involve a criminal organization and urged families to be vigilant about elderly relatives' online interactions.
In a similar case in 2024, Florida business owner Jeffrey Moynihan, Jr. was taken into custody and charged with grand theft for allegedly scamming a Texas woman out of $250,000 by pretending to be Musk.
Another person on Reddit detailed how a scammer pretending to be Musk conned his father out of $6,000 using an AI-generate video.
"The fake Elon contacted him and told him that he’d been chosen as a winner of a free Tesla. He actually believed he was communicating with Elon, because the scammer sent an AI impersonation video of Musk," the user explained on the Scams subreddit. "All he had to do was send a $500 Apple gift card, which he did. Then they asked for shipping costs for the new Tesla, which he did via Zelle, amounting to $6000."
