School principal sends fake Elon Musk $100,000

A Florida school principal has sent a check for $100,000 to a person who impersonated Elon Musk to her. In advance, she had been trying to get the billionaire’s attention and get him to fund the school.

Musk as school funder?

The principal of Burns Science and Technology Charter School, a school that emphasizes STEM education, had been trying to attract Musk’s attention for some time. From this, she had hoped the billionaire would contribute to the school’s funding. Unknown persons took advantage of this public courting of Musk’s interest: they contacted the principal, posing as Musk. Given her previous attempts to get Musk interested in her school, contacting her apparently did not seem suspicious to the principal.

As a result, she allowed the fake Musk to convince her to write him a check for $100,000. Subsequently, she was to receive school funding from him in the amount of six million dollars. However, this did not materialize. The check was made out to a Luis Alberto Feranendez, who by all appearances she thought was an assistant to Musk.

School superintendent resigns

When the school board noticed the $100,000 missing, it took the principal, who was not authorized to make the transaction, to task. The latter apologized: she had fallen for a scam and made a mistake. She subsequently resigned from her post.

The case is not the first in which unknown persons impersonated Musk to commit fraud. In 2021, for example, a Cologne resident lost 500,000 euros in a sweepstake allegedly organized by Musk.