Korean Woman Scammed By “Elon Musk,” Loses $50K
A Korean woman was tricked into losing over 50 thousand USD following a scam involving X Owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
According to an In-Depth 60 Minutes episode, a woman known as Jeong Ji Sun shared how she fell for the scam, saying she was first contacted on Instagram by an account that said they were Elon Musk.
I experienced something like a dream last year. On July 17 last year, Musk added me as a friend on Instagram. Although I have been a huge fan of Musk after reading his autobiography, I doubted it at first.
Though she had some initial misgivings about the circumstances, these were put aside when “Musk” sent her a photo of his ID card and a picture of him at work. The account explained that he occasionally contacted fans as a reason for reaching out to her, which set her even further at ease.
The relationship between the two grew closer, as Jeong reported that she had a video call with “Musk,” during which he said, “I love you.”
However, it was later revealed that Jeong had fallen prey to an elaborate AI scam, resulting in her financial loss.
This type of scam occurs when a victim is lured into a false sense of security and the promise of a return on investment, which allows them to be taken advantage of. This is what happened when “Musk” gave her a Korean bank account, saying he would help her make money.
Jeong deposited around 7,000,000 to the scammers, who likely used deep fake technology to pull off appearing to be “Musk.”
Korea does have protections against scams, but the advancement of technology has left gaps in the law where criminals can take advantage.
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