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.
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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.
Can agree. I used to think I was savvy enough to avoid getting scammed, until I followed a link that a person who was pretending to be a mechanic gave me to purchase parts for my car. I ended up spending $1300 on parts that didn’t exist.
Long story short, I eventually got my money back after arguing with my bank’s fraud department for several months. I wish I could afford a lawyer so I could sue this guy for pain and suffering + the thousands I spent in Uber/Lyft/Waymo getting to work while I didn’t have a car.