Twitter saw one of the fraudulent crypto ads that was purchased from a verified user on Wednesday morning.
According to Elon Musk (CEO), most of the fraudsters have left Twitter. He spoke with BBC Tuesday night. But if you’re a Twitter user with an interest in tech, you might be seeing some incredibly scammy ads right now. Some of the ads even use Musk’s face to sell SpaceX-themed crypto, falsely claiming the billionaire has endorsed the digital product.
When the BBC asked Musk if he was concerned about the spread of misinformation on the platform—an interview that was livestreamed on Twitter’s Spaces audio feature late Tuesday—the CEO insisted it wasn’t a problem.
“I actually think there’s less [misinformation] these days because we’ve eliminated so many of the bots which were pushing scams and spam,” Musk said.
The BBC also asked Musk if big advertisers had returned to the platform after their much publicized departure when he bought the company in October 2022, and the CEO said, “not all, but most.”
“You can see it for yourself on Twitter,” Musk told the BBC.
But that certainly hasn’t been my experience over the past few months. As a regular Twitter user, I’ve been seeing lots of crypto scams that use Musk’s image—a problem that’s persisted.
“Breaking news for all crypto investors around the world! The visionary CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, has just announced the launch of the official SpaceX Token, and the Pre-Sale is now open for a limited time only,” one of the scam websites that’s advertising on Twitter claims.
Musk is known to have publicly promoted his investment in cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin. However, the billionaire Twitter CEO was never a founder of his own cryptocurrency. This ad, currently earning money for Twitter is clearly a scam.
A landing page is provided for this Twitter advertisement. It directs people to an even more professional website featuring SpaceX branding, where they can buy the fake coins. It even offers prizes to those who buy the cryptocurrency.
“Investors who acquire 3,000 SpaceX Tokens will be eligible to spin a Lucky Wheel that could result in winning a variety of prizes, including a trip to Mars in 2025, a flame thrower from The Boring Company, a Neuralink brain chip that interfaces with OpenAI, or token bonuses,” the scam website claims.
Screenshot of one of the most popular crypto-scam websites being promoted via Twitter
Again, Musk has never launched his own token and whoever’s really behind this ad doesn’t have the ability to give people things like a Neuralink brain chip or a trip to Mars. Even Musk isn’t promising anyone a trip to Mars yet, despite tremendous accomplishments being made with SpaceX rockets.
But that doesn’t stop the scam ads from insisting SpaceX is really behind this new crypto.
“SpaceX Token is a groundbreaking cryptocurrency project built by Elon Musk’s space exploration company, SpaceX,” the scam website reads.
“Featuring its own blockchain, SpaceX Chain offers a range of cutting-edge features that surpass other blockchains. This community-based project offers the opportunity for investors to participate in the funding of space exploration and to have a say in decision-making processes,” the website continues.
Aside from photos of Musk, the ads also frequently use the logos of reputable crypto news outlets, as you can see in the screenshot I’ve highlighted below. Coin Telegraph’s logo appears to be for the site. However, these scammers do not have any association whatsoever with Coin Telegraph.
Scam Crypto ad is currently displayed on Twitter. This uses a Coin Telegraph Logo.
These ads can also be shown to accounts who have subscribed to Twitter Blue for $8 per month. Twitter doesn’t actually verify anyone’s identity when they pay for Twitter Blue, a decision that has caused institutional accounts to wonder why they’d pay for a checkmark without any real functionality.
Musk tweeted last night that “legacy” blue checkmarks would vanish by April 20, though it’s not clear whether that will actually happen. Musk jokes about marijuana frequently, and 4/20 refers to marijuana.
And I’m not the only one seeing these scam ads. People often tweet at Musk asking if the SpaceX coin ads they’re seeing are real. But Musk hasn’t responded to any of the questions, as far as I can tell.
One Twitter user asked Elon Musk whether the SpaceX token was real.
These crypto-scams are actually quite common, and people do fall for them. In January, the FTC even provided me with the documentation to support my claims.
How much of Twitter’s ads are currently scams? That’s difficult to estimate at this point, but I’ve been seeing the ads regularly since I first wrote about the problem back in February and March. To find out what Twitter is doing about these scammers, I have reached out several times to Twitter. However, no response has been received.
Twitter answered emailed questions Wednesday night with an emoticon that said “poop” and sent a response. This is Musk’s automated reply. I’ll update this article on the off chance Musk addresses this issue in any way.
Musk has been scheduled to appear at the Possible Conference in Miami (Florida) on April 18. According to emails leaked by Semafor, many major advertisers are concerned about Musk appearing at the conference. And it’s really no mystery why big brands might be concerned.
Lately, Musk has been making juvenile jokes at Twitter, even painting over the “W” on the sign at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, apparently a joke about breasts. And overnight, Musk made several jokes about the BBC being a reference to pornography—a joke I’ll let you look up on Urban Dictionary if you don’t know what it means.
“I said BBC could come Twitter, then, to my surprise, a reporter shows up,” Musk tweeted.
“Penetrating deep & hard with @BBC,” Musk said in another porn joke.
Musk, who’s 51 years old, is free to make all the jokes he wants on a platform he owns. But if the billionaire was seriously concerned about attracting advertisers to the social media site, you’d think he’d want to make it an inviting place for all kinds of people. Under Twitter’s current management, Twitter has given blue checkmarks to at least two open neo-NazisWith huge followings and one account with a racial slur.
Musk is driving the Twitter age at present. And he’s free to do that all he wants. But big brands are also free to say they don’t want to be associated with Twitter if it’s just going to be an adult man’s playhouse filled with crypto scams.
