Facebook verified fake Ilon Musk's page offering to 'double bitcoins'
Despite Facebook's attempts to verify suspiciously popular accounts, these attempts are not ideal. The Verge reported that the company mistakenly verified Elon Musk's Facebook fan page as Musk's own official account. What's more, it turned out to be run by a bitcoin-trading scammer.
The page, which had 153,000 followers at the time of The Verge's publication, actually admits that it's not the real Ilon Musk. At least in the "About page" section. There, users are greeted by the following text: "This is a fan page showcasing tweets, etc. from him." But then the URL ends with "ElonMuskoffici", indicating the supposedly official site. The "page transparency" section states that the people running the page are "based in Egypt" and not in the U.S., where Musk resides.
The account has 11 posts, and while most of them are simply reposts of Musk's tweets, the most recent one is clearly a fake bitcoin giveaway (the post has been deleted as of this publication). The earliest post is dated October 21, but as The Verge notes, the page was actually created on July 28, 2019 under the name "Kizito Gavin" and has changed the name several times since then. On October 17, it changed its name to "Ilon Musk."
Facebook verification requires account holders to provide proof of identity, such as a driver's license or passport, but scammers sometimes find ways to bypass the official process. At the moment the fake Ilon Musk page has "gone off the radar".
