On May 17, 2021, the FTC announced, “Since October 2020, reports have skyrocketed, with nearly 7,000 people reporting losses of more than $80 million on these scams.” It describes two scam methods. The first is to lure targets to bogus websites that look genuine and offer investment opportunities. The second is effectively a celebrity scam, where the supposed celebrity promises to immediately multiply any bitcoin investment.

In the latter scam, the name Elon Musk is frequently used as the celebrity. Known for both his business acumen and interest in cryptocurrencies, he is used to add credibility to the scam. “For example,” says the FTC, “people have reported sending more than $2 million in cryptocurrency to Elon Musk impersonators over just the past six months.”