Be cautious of Elon Musk ETH and BTC Giveaway scams
If it sounds too good to be true that’s because it probably is. Elon Musk is not giving away prizes such as a Tesla Model 3 or cryptocurrency for sending him a certain amount of BTC or ETH. However, one of the latest scams floating around the web claims otherwise.
Deceptive websites such as spacexfree.com (don’t go there) are currently running online scams where they claim to be Elon Musk (or someone from marketing at Tesla HQ). The websites claim that Tesla is holding a special giveaway for “all crypto fans out there” and in order to participate, you must send 5 BTC or 100 ETH to them. The website claims that you will receive 10 BTC for every 1 BTC you send and that you will be entered in a drawing to win a Tesla Model 3.
Here’s a transcript of what is written on the initial webpage:
Elon Musk — Official ETH and BTC Giveaway
Our marketing department here at Tesla HQ came up with an idea: to hold a special giveaway event for all crypto fans out there.
If you want to participate, it is really simple to do. Just navigate to these websites to learn more:
Click here — Click this official link to get free BTC
Click here — Click this official link to get free ETH
P.S. If you send in 5 BTC or 100 ETH, you will get the Grand Prize: a fully customized Tesla 3 model, delivery included, color of your choice (including currently unavailable Obsidian Black & Metallic Silver!). DM me on Twitter if you did that and we will organize the delivery as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Elon Musk
The second webpage which is linked on the first page contains a step-by-step guide to make a transaction, obtain a wallet, and send a small amount of Bitcoin or Electrum to a specific address. A specific wallet published on the page we visited is 13oxN7jnMX1b9jTzKyAyqwhxcEE6RwVyDG although it may be different for other visitors and similar scams.
The webpages are also loaded with fake testimonials from fake people and fake transactions to make it appear more legitimate. The fake testimonials say something like “Thanks man! Markets are crazy and this is a welcome in these hard times! I can brag now – I got 30 ETH from Elon himself!”
The way this scam is promoted is through social media, specifically by fake Elon Musk and fake Tesla accounts and profiles. Scammers typically create fake accounts masquerading as Elon Musk and will leave comments on popular threads to demand attention.
Although this may seem like a scam to many people, there are still others who may take a chance to win and we have written this article to warn them. Scams like this are common and they don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon so if you come across a fake Elon Musk social media profile make sure to report it to stop the scam from spreading across the net.