Gizmodo filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the FTC to get complaints sent to the federal agency about crypto scams that pretend to be affiliated with Musk. We obtained 247 complaints, all filed between Feb. and Oct. of this year, and they’re filled with stories of people who believed they were watching ads for authentic crypto investments sanctioned by Musk on social media.
The ads sometimes featured the names of Musk’s various companies, like SpaceX, Tesla, and X, while other times they utilized Musk’s association with neo-fascist presidential candidate Donald Trump.
…
Some people in the complaints believed they were talking directly with Musk, a sadly common story that has popped up in news reports before. But they weren’t talking with Musk, of course. They were communicating with scammers engaging in what’s called pig butchering—the name for a type of fraud popularized in the mid-2010s where scammers extract as much money as possible through flattery and promises of tremendous profits if the victim just “invests” where they’re told.
Oh no! Anyways, what are y’all cooking?
Sure, the scams like pig butchering look dumb from the outside, but never think shit like this can’t happen to you. There’s TONs of ways scammers can trick you, but usually they’ll seek out vulnerable people. Sure the gullible are vulnerable, but just because you’re not vulnerable right now, doesn’t mean you won’t be at some point in the future. Desperation can make scholars into fools.
Don’t it just break your heart?
Some people in the complaints believed they were talking directly with Musk, a sadly common story that has popped up in news reports before.
I remember when I thought I was talking directly to a celebrity online… when I was 13. It didn’t take long to realize how stupid that idea was. To be a grown adult and still think there’s a chance a celebrity is sending messages to random people is mind-boggling.
I cringe at the memories now, but at least I can take comfort in having learned about catfishing long before I had money to lose from it.
Who would think that Musk fans are gullible people susceptible to scams?
When these scams first started featuring Musk, it was clear that he was a common lead because of his wealth. Pretty much just “Get rich quick, and be rich like [insert rich guy here]”. I’ve seen scams in the past with Buffet, Gates, or Bezos on it before, because the kind of people who fall for a get-rich-quick scam are the kinds of people who idolize wealth.
But now it seems that Musk fans are a uniquely exploitable group. They are easily fooled by wild claims, and quickly subscribe to magical thinking. At this point, they’re just low-hanging fruit.
Skill issue lmao
SKISSUE says chat lol
This is pretty sad.
I have a number of elderly relatives. The one thing I keep telling them is if they ever get approached, to contact their kids, or check with another family member before responding. So far, there haven’t been any problems.
But I heard an in-law’s parents in a different state lost a big chunk of money to one of these scams and may now lose their home.
My elderly dad called me a few years ago to let me know that we’d have to change up all the security stuff for our family phone plan because he gotten scammed. He said he got a call from someone claiming to be a representative of the phone company who said they’d like to lower our monthly bill. I stopped him and said “well, that should have been your first clue… when in the last decade of us using them has that ever happened? When was the last time our bill went down instead of up?”
I’m so glad they’re losing it to these scams instead of to leon.
The people that end up cashing in from those scams are the same people that end up supporting Trump & Musk.
Can we take NASA contract away from SpaceX? Let’s bring it back in house. Space should not be for profit .
But then how will billionaires get to say they’re literally thinking of the big picture because they got to go on a brief space joy ride?
Just want to share that NASA has one of the highest ROIs of any government agency.
I want to increase NASAs budget and go to space.
This has been news in Canada for about a year, story after story about people getting sucked in and losing tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. When it’s not Musk it’s Justin Trudeau, same M.O.
You’d think if these people read the news outlets they share their stories with that they would have seen one of the articles already because they’re so common. But then again people still take Sunwing package vacations then complain to the news when it’s subpar so idk.
Edit to add I blame big tech more than the scam victims, they have no protections in place and are profiting off the scammers immorally as well. They should have to manually review these things or at least be responsive to user reports and they’re doing neither. I actually know someone who got banned from Meta products for reporting too many scam ads.
You’d think if these people read the news outlets they share their stories with that they would have seen one of the articles already because they’re so common.
Crypto scams have overwhelmed the news feeds. I see scams showing up on the front page of my fucking retirement account. Dumb money retail investors chasing fictitious capital are setting off a feeding frenzy.
while other times they utilized Musk’s association with neo-fascist presidential candidate Donald Trump.
I love that they called him what he is. I wish more in media would.
Ngl I always hated crypto but this is like best argument for crypto. Wtf I’m even doing at my job, I should be doing something actually important like scramming Elon Musk fans.
