Florida man accused of posing as Elon Musk to steal $250K from elderly woman

Florida resident Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. has been arrested for allegedly pretending to be Elon Musk in order to steal $250,000 from an elderly woman.

Elon Musk has a lot going for him. He’s the CEO of one of the biggest social media platforms in the world, he regularly sends rockets into space, and he recently became the best Diablo 4 player in the world. Of course, not everyone loves the tech billionaire.

Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban has previously fired shots at Musk and Mark Zuckerberg wants to physically fight the man. Even with high-profile enemies like that, Musk is in an enviable position, and it’s understandable that some people might wish to be in his shoes.

Of course, some have attempted to step into that footwear for nefarious purposes. Originally reported by FOX Business, Florida Man Jeffrey Arthur Moynihan Jr. has been arrested and charged with grand theft for impersonating Musk as part of a $250,000 scam.

Fake Elon Musk steals $250,000 in online scam

Moynihan was arrested at his home in Bradenton, Florida on November 19, 2024. The arrest was made after a police investigation concluded that he had stolen “at least a quarter of a million dollars” from a 74-year-old Texas woman.

Police allege that Moynihan posed as Elon Musk using Facebook and began messaging the woman as early as 2023. “The victim was convinced she had, in fact, invested her money with Elon Musk,” investigators revealed.

They detailed logs of the messages that would build rapport with the victim by talking about how Elon’s day was going by using prominent news stories about the tech CEO. “The victim felt like Elon really was her friend,” investigators claim. “After ‘Elon’ built trust with her, he suggested she invest in his businesses. She made several transactions over a period of time.”

Financial records obtained by the investigations report $250,000 being sent to bank accounts linked to Moynihan and his business, Jeff’s Painting and Pressure Washing LLC. According to a spokesperson for the Bradenton Police Department, “The real Elon Musk was otherwise engaged with the most recent launch of SpaceX and is not under investigation by BPD.”