German woman loses 10 bitcoins to fake Elon Musk

 

Sebastian remembers with shame and anger the night he lost $ 564,000. It was an ordinary evening. 

He watched a TV series on Netflix, and when he went to bed, he sat on the sofa a little longer and started to poke his phone. There was a twitter alert: Elon Musk posted a message. "Musk, 'Dojo 4 Doge?' he tweeted, and I was curious about the meaning with that, ”he explains. "There was a link below it, I clicked it and I saw that Bitcoin was gone." When Sebastian clicked on the link, a professional-looking web page was opened, where Bitcoin distribution was in full swing.

The page promises participants to double their deposit, a stopwatch countdown showing the remaining time in a corner. The contest seemed to be organized by Elon Musk's Tesla team. It was promised that if the resulting Bitcoin sends from 0.1 Bitcoins (about $ 6,000) to 20 Bitcoins (about $ 1.2 million), they will be resent twice.

Sebastian was trying to re-check the blue-clicked logo on Elon Musk's Twitter account and decide whether he should send 5 Bitcoins or 10 Bitcoins. "This is absolutely real, I inspired myself and sent 10 Bitcoins to play to the max," he says. Then the 20-minute waiting period started. 

At his home in Cologne, Germany, Sebastian updated his screen every 30 seconds, waiting for his Bitcoins to arrive doubled. When a new crypto tweet came from Elon Musk, he was sprinkled with water, further believing that the first tweet about Bitcoin distribution was real. 

But when the countdown finishes on the stopwatch on the display and reaches 0, "I realized it was a big scam," Sebastian says. "I buried my head in the pillows on the sofa, my heart rate accelerated. 

I wasted the money that would change my family's life, my dreams of early retirement and going on vacation to my children. "I went upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed. I woke my wife up and explained what a big mistake I had made." Sebastian didn't sleep at all that night. 

He sent emails to the fraudulent website, tweeted on Elon Musk's fake Twitter account, hoping to get all or at least some of his money back. Unable to get results, he had to admit that he lost his money.

Blockchain technology consulting firm Whale Alert in Amsterdam watched with horror Sebastian transferring 10 Bitcoins and cashing them out in a matter of days.

The company tried to act on officials against such fraudulent transactions, but did not get results. Blockchain analysts track the actual movement of cryptocurrencies and observe trends. Through the "distribution" of giveaways Bitcoin fraudsters are making huge sums of money. Sebastian's 10 Bitcoins were transferred in the largest single transaction you have ever witnessed.

THE NUMBER OF CHOKED IS INCREASING RAPIDLY

Researchers state that the fraudsters made a record level of money in 2021. The giveaway gangs defrauded $ 18 million in the first three months of 2021. The fraud in 2020 was $ 16 million. While the number of people exposed to such scams was 10,500 in 2020, this number has already reached 5,600 this year. The scams' tactics have not changed much since 2018. 

Opening fake Twitter accounts of famous Investors like Elon Musk, waiting to be shared from the real account and to be answered to someone to make it even more convincing. In addition to Twitter, other social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are also used for such scams.

BITCOIN MARKET MOVING

Frank van Weert, founder of Whale Alert, says, "We don't have data to explain this, but it could be related to the general Bitcoin market. As bitcoin prices rise, people go crazy and the desire to make quick money prevails as many are new to this market. 

"It also seems quite possible that an investor who supports cryptocurrencies like Elon Musk will distribute Bitcoin." "People exposed to these scams are not uneducated." Van Weert also says that having real cryptocurrency web pages that distribute giveaways for their own promotions makes it easier to fall into such traps. 

'I'm not a fool' Three weeks after the incident, Sebastian is still embarrassed, "I'm not a fool, actually," he says. "I am an educated person working in the field of communication technology. I live with my wife and two children in a beautiful house with a garden. 

I was greedy that night and it blinded me." Sebastian, 42, made his first investment in Bitcoine in 2017 with $ 40,000. Over time, the value of 10 Bitcoins has reached 500 thousand euros.

'IT IS VERY EASY TO PLAY BITCOIN'

Sebastian wants the authorities to take action against international scams and actively help companies that trade Bitcoin. "It's easy to steal bitcoins. 

Bitcoin trading platforms need to know their customers and check if someone is being targeted by thieves." The most reverberating Bitcoin fraud was in 2020, fraudsters using fake social media accounts of celebrities such as Bill Gates, Kim Kardashian and Elon Musk stole $ 118,000 Bitcoin, and three people were arrested.