--- title: "Man Loses Half a Million Dollars in Elon Musk Reply “Crypto Giveaway” Scam" description: "A man has lost over half a million dollars after falling for a fake Elon Musk giveaway. Learn how this Bitcoin scam can trick people." date: "2021-03-16" modified: "2021-03-31" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/man-loses-half-million-dollars-elon-musk-crypto-giveaway-scam" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "bitcoin" - "elon musk" - "online scam" - "scam" - "the digest" --- # Man Loses Half a Million Dollars in Elon Musk Reply “Crypto Giveaway” Scam ![A man referred to by the BBC as "Sebastian" lost over half a million dollars after falling for a Elon Musk-related Bitcoin giveaway scam.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* ## Dojo 4 Doge Obviously people occasionally fell for those Elon Musk imposter crypto scams — otherwise scammers wouldn't keep posting them. But this one is a bit of a doozy: a man [referred to by the *BBC*]() as "Sebastian" lost over half a million dollars after getting duped by one of the scams. "There was a link to a new event below, so I clicked on it and saw that he was giving away Bitcoin!" Sebastian told the British broadcaster. The website looked legit and the promise of doubling his returns — an extremely common scam tactic — lured Sebastian into buying in. ## Fake Out But as it turns out, the ruse was one of countless Bitcoin scams, often referred to as "giveaway scams," asking those who don't know better for their cryptocurrency in exchange for a huge profit margin — which of course never materializes. The scammers usually masquerade as Musk's real verified Twitter account by slightly modifying the name and using his profile picture. They usually prey on their targets in the comments section of Musk's latest tweets. "'Take the maximum', I thought, this is definitely real, so I sent 10 Bitcoin," Sebastian told the *BBC*. At the time of writing, 10 Bitcoin is worth $555,000. Then it dawned on him. "I realized then that it was a big fake," after the countdown timer ran out. "I threw my head on to the sofa cushions and my heart was beating so hard," he recalled. "I thought I'd just thrown away the gamechanger for my family, my early retirement fund and all the upcoming holidays with my kids." Giveaway scammers had a huge 2020, with more than 10,000 different people falling for them last year, according to blockchain analysis company Whale Alert. **READ MORE:** [Bitcoin: Fake Elon Musk giveaway scam 'cost man £400,000']() \[*BBC*\] **More on Bitcoin scams:** *[A Fake SpaceX Stream That’s Scamming Bitcoins Has 16,000 Viewers]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()