Celebrity Crypto Cons: Chicago-area man Richard Lyons loses $10K to cryptocurrency scam by Elon Musk impersonator
CHICAGO (WLS) — The ABC7 I-Team is uncovering how criminals are using famous faces to lure in victims. Scammers are impersonating celebrities, convincing people to invest in fake cryptocurrency opportunities.
One victim lost $10,000 to a person pretending to be Elon Musk.
The FBI says in 2024, victims lost billions of dollars after being tricked into sending crypto to fraudsters. Many times, scammers pretend to be love interests or financial experts. In other cases, they use fake pictures and AI voice cloning to pose as celebrities.
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Richard Lyons thought he was investing with the world’s richest man. The Vietnam veteran met a fake “Elon Musk” on a social media, and then there were…
