Africa: Billionaire Elon Musk Is Not On Facebook and Tesla Phones Don't Exist - Beware of Imposter Accounts With Fake Offers

28 June 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
analysis By Muktar Balogun

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has previously confirmed that he does not have a Facebook account and that his company, Tesla, does not make phones. So don't fall for this fake account offering free Tesla phones on Facebook.

"This is going to the first 500 people to text me with the color you want and your location," reads a post on Facebook.

The post, published 18 June 2023, called on users in a Facebook group named Elon Musk Fan Page to send a private message to claim their Tesla phones.

The account is named Elon M Musk and uses a photo of Elon Musk, by some accounts one of the richest people in the world, as its profile picture.

Musk is the chief executive of Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer which also makes other products, including solar panels and batteries, as well as branded clothes. All Tesla products are sold on its website.

The post has received more than 70 comments and similar posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

But is this Tesla phone giveaway for real?

Fake account, no Tesla phone

In a tweet in 2018, Musk said he does not use Facebook. Even if he did, it would be highly unlikely that the centibillionaire - someone with a net-worth of more than $100 billion - would use the platform to give away cellphones.

Musk owns social media company Twitter and has over 140 million followers on the platform.

In November 2022, he tweeted that he would only make an alternative phone if Google and Apple took away the Twitter applications from their stores.

There have been rumours that a Tesla phone has been launched and phone review blogs have speculated about its release date. A popular YouTube content creator, Mrwhosetheboss, even claimed to review a limited-version Tesla electro phone. But at time of publication, there is no Tesla phone on the market and none for sale through Tesla.

Africa Check has exposed several Facebook accounts falsely claiming to offer free phones to users in a bid to scam them.

To help protect yourself against online scams, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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