‘Please Help,’ Beg Those Who Lost $2 Million to Fake Elon Musks
- FTC’s public records document tales of woe from crypto-scams
- Consumers duped by celebrity impersonators seek agency’s help
Dozens of consumers who were scammed by Elon Musk impersonators taking advantage of the recent cryptocurrency mania are begging the Federal Trade Commission for help getting their money back.
Since October 2020, consumers have reported losing more than $80 million to crypto-investment scams, according to the federal agency. Many of the schemes promised that a celebrity associated with cryptocurrency would multiply and return any coins the consumer sent to their digital wallet. The losses to Elon Musk impersonators alone have exceeded $2 million. Such ruses had already been going on for years when Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, hosted NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” earlier this month -- raising interest in crypto and making it even easier for crooks to find people to dupe.