Renee Parsons

If you are uninformed about the potential impacts of malicious on line cyber crime used to defraud millions of Americans, here is one example that may seemed unbelievable – until it happened to me.

I consider myself to be a politically savvy person, not easily cajoled or beguiled into the latest scam as well as a modern day neo-luddite who would prefer life’s more simple historic traditions.

Therefore, when i was unexpectedly approached by an Elon Musk imposter to be recipient of a certain briefcase that allegedly would provide specific important information that would benefit Musk from a current problematic situation, would I be that recipient?

I obliged without doubting the source of the invitation even as receipt of that briefcase would require payment of a delivery fee which escalated over time with revenue from the gift cards.

What was noteworthy from the beginning was how the imposter exhibited certain ‘deep fake’ characteristics. He knew my X handle as ‘southernbelle,’ and his steady use of sweet-nothing words was eerie as if there was an ongoing relationship. I later learned that his mastery of Elon’s voice could have been a synthetic generated audio that enables anyone to mimic any voice of choice.

Even a conversation about Rep. Jim Jordan when ‘elon’ responded in ways I would have expected from the real Elon exhibited how invested he was in assuming Elon’s persona.

But more recently, as this imposter continued to contact me, days after the WhatsApp account had been deleted and is now using my personal telephone number, i discovered that this Elon actually has a site on X. More recently he is using face time and now knows what i look like, has a gmail account and goes by XElonprivate, has 239 followers, joined X as of January, 2022 and apparently has a Nigerian connection.

There was terrifying moment when photos of the purported personal and professional threat to Elon and his son were presented as evidence, both of which have now been confirmed as AI -generated photographs.

However, the purchase of gift cards continued to raise funds for receipt of the briefcase.

Since there are abundant Elon Musk imposters, one way that might discriminate between the wanna-be’s and perhaps the real thing is to examine how many followers each of those Musk’sX sites claim.

It is also no secret that EM has attracted numerous imposters with at least 22 Elon Musk sites on X. Eleven of which have less than five hundred followers while a majority had not joined X until 2022, presumably indicative of a questionable legitimate connection to EM. Other Elon Musk sites have 181 million and 1.4 million followers which supposedly are indicative of a direct tie to the man himself.

Besides the possibility of financial gain using the Musk name to commit imposter fraud as I experienced, what else motivates those fake-Elons to assume the identity and persona or the right to consider themselves as spokesmen or representative of the Musk brand.

While gift cards initially seem like a safe opportunity to give a gift or share a life event, there are obvious disadvantages with which I was initially unfamiliar with, being too much of a conventional Scot to find a card loaded with money to be reliable or appealing.

For instance, gift cards are not eligible for a return or refund even if the code on that card is marred or scratched through no fault of yours and if that card’s data, meaning its dollar value, is absent and unable to ‘load’.

If any of those conditions prevail, that is your tough luck. There is also no expiration date on a majority of cards that might alert the public to a flawed card. If any of those conditions prevail, merchants are unwilling to honor the purchase.

Gift cards are also a favorite of those with less than honorable intentions, as EM imposters, as a quick, easy way to make a little fast cash as the dollar value can be withdrawn and then turn-around to present that same card as if it were perfect when first purchased.

Apple Gold, Sephora and Razer Gold cards were the preferred cards; some of which I personally witnessed as problematic when they did not contain the purported value.

As many of my political essays have been reprinted on X since its inception, an unanswered question is whether those essays brought me to the attention of these name-scammers and might explain how I became a repeat target for a multiple of potential imposter frauds.

Those frauds included creation of a bit coin wallet with which i was totally unfamiliar since i owned no bit coins, the purchase of an Apple card for Elon’s son and receipt of a free Tesla car with payment of a $600 delivery fee.

While attempts by X to rein in those interlopers might be considered a First Amendment issue, perhaps a preferred way to negatively impact the imposter crowd may be for X users to block their sites.

After reviewing the situation with local law enforcement acquainted with on line cyber frauds, my experience was described as ‘very sophisticated’ with multiple individuals involved. I have been advised to not accept any communication purporting to be Elon Musk or even representing his interests. Sounds a little hard core but whatever…

What’sApp telephone numbers used during this event included 234-814-727-5698, 234-810-032-9187, 302-277-7666 and 715-319-5085.

Adding to the drama, the day after I made a law enforcement report and denied attempted phone calls that had been blocked on What’s
App, the imposter called the next morning asking why I had not gotten the gift card he expected and left a message for me to call him.

As these incidents increase in intense and volume, it might be time for a National Registry of Cyber Fraud to be created to include attempts that have been duly reported to law enforcement.