Fake ‘Elon Musk’ scams elderly woman out of $250K

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A Florida man who allegedly impersonated tech billionaire Elon Musk online to befriend and scam a 74-year-old Texas woman out of $250,000 USD on the promise of a $55 million return was arrested and charged with grand theft last week.

After arresting Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr., 56, the Bradenton Police Department said in a news release that “the actual sum could be much higher” as the victim’s 80-year-old husband “told investigators his wife gave ‘Elon Musk’ approximately $600,000.”

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The Florida police were put on to the case after being alerted by authorities in Frisco, Tex., according to Scripps News and multiple other news outlets. Police there were investigating a complaint about a woman who’d given a large chunk of money to someone posing as the world’s richest man and had traced the funds to accounts in the western Florida city.

Detective Jim Currulla of Bradenton PD’s dedicated elder fraud unit took over the case and financial records led him to Moynihan and his business, Jeff’s Painting and Pressure Washing, LLC.

Police discovered that the victim and “Musk” connected on Facebook in 2023 and exchanged messages over several months, during which time police allege Moynihan used the real Musk’s social media posts to help dupe the woman.

“So, if he went and saw a launch, he would say, ‘Well today, I’m at a launch but maybe we can talk tonight when I’m free’ or ‘This week I’m going to go talk to some high-profile people and maybe you can watch me on TV tonight,” Currulla told Scripps.

After establishing a rapport, the woman was encouraged to invest in Musk’s businesses and, according to a police spokesperson who spoke to Foxbusiness.com, she “made several transactions over a period of time” amounting to $250,000.

“The victim was convinced she had, in fact, invested her money with Elon Musk,” the spokesperson said. “The victim felt like Elon really was her friend.”

Currulla said the woman’s husband, “who knew that the real Elon Musk was not involved,” wasn’t able to convince her otherwise. It wasn’t until their bank alerted them about the large transactions that he reported it to local police.

Body camera footage of Moynihan’s arrest on the night of Nov. 19 shows him shirtless while being detained outside his home. After asking what he’s being charged with and told grand theft, he asks, “Grand theft of what?”

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Under questioning, Scripps reported that Moynihan told police the $250,000 was for a “strictly online” girlfriend, creating a scenario where he himself may be the victim of another scam.

While no other suspects have been identified, Currulla told Fox “there are clearly other people that are involved in this case.”

He also revealed that police found evidence Moynihan was pretending to be actor Johnny Depp and singer-songwriter Lionel Richie online, though it wasn’t clear if he was using those identities in similar scams.

Court documents indicate he is being held on a $250,000 bond at the Manatee County jail and is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 10.

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