Beware of Elon Musk crypto-currency giveaway links on Twitter

Be aware of a surge of links on Twitter that appear to be posted from Tesla CEO Elon Musk that promote crypto-currency software. They are all scams.

Whenever Elon Musk hits the headlines on Twitter, crypto-currency scammers will strike. Yes, that means over the last week or so, it’s been a digital goldmine for the crooks.

Elon Musk has been in the spotlight over the Thai cave rescue story that has dominated media headlines recently. Musk offered a mini-submarine to help with the rescue, which was bluntly rejected by rescue divers. What followed was a public spat between one of the divers, Vern Unsworth, and Musk, leading to Musk calling Unsworth a “paedo” in a tweet – a tweet which he later deleted and apologised for in a subsequent tweet.

That’s all very well, but in the background, cyber crooks were lurking, looking to capitalise on the story.

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With over 22 million followers, Musk’s tweets are prolific on Twitter, as are many of the comments they attract. This is especially true concerning his recent tweets related to the Thai cave rescue. And what is happening is crooks are creating almost identical Twitter accounts using Elon Musk’s name and profile picture. Using those imposter accounts, the crooks have been replying on Musk’s real tweets advertising crypto-currency scams, as if they’re being endorsed by the Space X CEO himself.

Check the below screenshot showing two such tweets that have capitalised on the story to promote scams –

The replies, upon a curosry glance, appear to have been posted by Musk, but there are some tell-tale signs. For one, these comments lack the blue verification tick that the official Musk account has. Also the username, @eloncnuck, isn’t Musk’s real Twitter username, which is @elonmusk.

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Such links lead to scam websites that claim handing over your crypto-currency to the crooks will lead to you getting more currency in return. If that sounds a tad suspicious, or too good to be true, it is. It’s a scam.

Beware of imposter accounts masquerading as high profile Twitter users. And if any tweet you see on the site claims to be offering free crypto-currency, think twice before clicking through.