Crytpocurrency Scams and Phishers Posing as Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, Your Friends and Family and More.

Crytpocurrency Scams and Phishers Posing as Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, Your Friends and Family and More.
 
Pages and Profiles Impersonating Elon Musk, SpaceX, Tesla, or a Friend or Family Member Are Offering Free Cryptocurrency, Free Government Money or Threatening You With Fines and Fees. Beware and be informed!
 
Some very aggressive scams are targeting crypto and Elon Musk fans, impersonating Elon, SpaceX and Tesla, and even showing up as a friend or family member. Your best defense is to know the red flags of a scam and avoid the ruse altogether. If you spot a fake page or profile report it immediately to the social network, to the Internet Crime Complaint Center and to the FTC. (Click on the blue-highlighted links to access.) Share this blog with your friends and family members because as soon as one page or profile is reported, another one is created. Below are a few ways to spot scams before you hand over your information.
 
Red Flags of a Scam
Very aggressive scams, set up on pages and profiles that look legitimate, are targeting cryptocurrency fans. Phishers and scam artists use all kinds of ruses to lure in unsuspecting victims, including posing as a friend or family member, as your bank, as a lottery win, or as a sure-shot, can’t lose investment. Below are a few questions to ask yourself before you hand over any personal information or money. Most scams are alike in that the devil is in the details. If you look closely enough, the cracks in the façade of the fraud are quite visible.
 
Remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
 
Red Flags

1. Pushy salesman or person.
2. Email or URL looks fake.
3. Misspelled words.
4. Promises of fast, easy, often free money.
5. Comes in as a phone call, email or shared on a friend’s timeline.
6. Guarantees that you can’t lose.
7. Require you giving personal information.
8. Require you giving money first.
9. Website doesn’t have a physical business address.
10. 800 phone number and fill-in-the-blank contact form, instead of a staff member and real email address to contact.

 
Before buying anything from anyone you don’t know, or sharing any of your personal information, you need to check out a few more things.
 
1. Find out who owns or leads the company. Read their bio and then Google that person with the phrase “SEC fines lawsuits scams” and see what turns up.
2. Click on the Contact Us link. If you don’t see a physical address and phone number, that is a red flag. If there is only an 800 number and a fill-in the form email submission, the warning bells and whistles should be going off for you.
3. About Us. What do you see on the About Us page? A legitimate corporation will list the executives and their bios. A questionable enterprise will have a video and sales pitch, with stock photos and no mention of who is running the company and how you can get in touch with someone there.
4. Referred by a Friend or Family Member? Sadly, this is the most common way for people to get roped into scams and losses. Many people fell for Madoff in this manner.
 
Below are two screen shots from pages that are impersonating Elon Musk and SpaceX.
 
The Fake Elon Musk Tweet
If you look closely on this page, you’ll see that the official Elon Musk account replied to Tech Girl. Right below that a fake account with Elon Musk’s name and the same profile picture replies again offering a sweetened deal. Further in the thread the same scam artist offers free Bitcoin and Ethereum, and even a chance to win a Tesla. However, there is no “official” check mark next to the scam artist’s profile, and the “real name” shows up on the right as GizeMyOrgun.

​The Fake SpaceX page.
If you look in the comments on the screen shot below, you’ll see that there is a “huge giveaway for our community!” The page is set up to look like it is run by SpaceX. However, on the About page, you can see that the page is actually run through a URL m.me/spacexpage. Even the “Official: SpaceX” Facebook page is not really official. Both Facebook and Twitter make it easy to spot verified pages with their blue check marks. If you see the word “official” without the check mark, chances are it is a fraud.  

​Private Message from a Friend or Family Member on Social
Last week, someone set up a fake account of my aunt, using her family pictures. They sent me a friend request, which I immediately accepted. Then they sent me a message about something very important that they’ve been wanting to get in touch with me about. The scam artist asked if I had heard of grants from the Health and Human Services. “My aunt” then told me that it was completely legitimate and $100,000 had shown up in her bank account. At that point, I reported the profile to Facebook. I noticed that other relatives had accepted the friend request. Facebook was very quick about deactivating the account (within minutes!).  
 
It’s clear that there is a very aggressive campaign of fraud going on right now, through multiple channels. So, protect yourself. Never give out any information to anyone who contacts you online, by phone or through email. If you worry that your bank needs something from you, go visit your local branch.
 
If you are worried about your finances, your budget or your investing strategy, or if you have lost a fortune on cryptocurrency or gold, it pays to get The ABCs of Money that we all should have received in high school. I just published The ABCs of Money, 2nd edition last month on Kindle. It’s updated with 2018 data, statistics and information, and costs only $3.99.
 

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Important Disclaimers
Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly traded companies or funds mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations.

ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect a diversified strategy, which has been designed with the assistance of a financial professional who is familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge and patience.  

Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable however NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.
 
 
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