‘I thought I’d won a Tesla car from Elon Musk’ – Highland man warns of competition scam

An elderly Highland man warns far north residents to be aware of a scam in which he believed he had won a competition organised by “the richest man in the world”.

The Caithness man, who did not wish to be named, said he entered an online competition that appeared to be set up by billionaire businessman Elon Musk and was delighted when he was told he had won a Tesla car.

“They sent a message which said that the transport [of the vehicle] had been stopped by the police and they needed £1200 to get it released,” he said.

Using a common scamming tactic, the criminals behind the ‘Elon Musk Give Away’ had asked the unwitting local for Apple gift cards to the value of £50 when he entered the competition.

“It was for one of those Elon Musk cars from America – the Tesla ones. They got my phone number and some other details but not my bank details. When they said about the £1200 I said that when it arrives I’ll see if it’s worth it and send you a cheque but they kept saying get us an Apple card. I said, ‘No, I don’t deal with Apple cards as a rule’ and told them my solicitor said not to pay it.”

He says he did not engage the services of a solicitor but just told the scammer that when they started getting too pushy. He admits that he went to Tesco and bought two £25 Apple gift cards and sent photos of the security numbers to the so-called competition organiser. All the communication took place through Facebook Messenger and the scammer was insistent on getting more money.

“They asked for the £1200 soon after. I thought I’d won and then when I realised there was something up I asked them to return the £50. They never replied after that and I realised I’d been scammed.”

He said he never went to the police as he thought it would be a waste of time but wanted local people to be aware of the scam. “Looks like I lost out to the richest man in the world,” he joked.

The ‘Elon Musk Give Away’ is just one of many scams that use the names of influential people and celebrities to prey on the gullible, especially the elderly.

Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com founder said: "It's important to be wary of the potential for all online adverts to be a scam, especially those with celebrity figures.”