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GRAND ISLAND — The Grand Island Police Department is investigating after a woman shared money with an Elon Musk impersonator.
According to the GIPD, a man reported that his 72-year-old wife sent over $20,000 to an Elon Musk impersonator over the last year. The case is open and under investigation.
“A study by AI firm Sensity found that Elon Musk is the most common celebrity used in deepfake scams. One likely reason is his wealth and entrepreneurship. Another reason is because of the amount of interviews he’s done; the more content there is of someone online, the easier it is to create convincing deepfakes,” according to a CBS News report from November 2024.
Deepfake videos are created by scammers using artificial intelligence to impersonate real people — often celebrities — to steal money and personal information.
Imposter scams are a common way scammers attempt to steal personal information or money.
“An imposter scammer may call, text, or email to convince you they are someone in authority. They may even use caller ID to make it look like they are calling from an official government or business’ number. To commit identity theft, they try to get you to send money or a gift card or share personal information,” according to USAgov.
