Two distinct spam campaigns use the name of Tesla and its popular CEO Elon Musk as bait to grab users' attention by offering the ability to receive Bitcoin. This was announced by the IT security company Bitdefender which also explains the method of the scam. The victim receives an email inviting them to send a small amount of cryptocurrency to a predetermined wallet promising to return the same amount several times in return. Amount which of course is not returned. Both spam campaigns started on May 15th and are currently ongoing. According to experts, in recent weeks the bitcoin-Musk theme, with all the ups and downs on the cryptocurrency market, has surpassed the use of Covid-19 themed scams.
The first campaign that uses the name of Elon Musk, explains Btitdefender, promises to receive a free $ 5,000 in Bitcoin: the spam is sent via an email with an attached pdf that provides instructions on how to participate in this opportunity. 79.72% of emails appear to be sent from Germany, targeting users in Europe and North America. 11% of emails reached users in the UK, 79.26% in Sweden and 9.22% in the US.
In the second campaign, however, the name of Tesla is used to communicate that the car manufacturer, known for the production of electric cars, is giving away 750 million dollars in bitcoin. The email contains all the information you need to proceed with sending a small amount of cryptocurrency to receive more in return. 16.73% of spam emails come from Brazil, 14.15% in Russia, 6.32% in Indonesia, 4.91% in Turkey, 4.56% in Ukraine, 4.44% in Spain, 3.68% in the United States, 3.63% in Italy, 2.16% in India, 2.11% in Romania and 1.93% in the Netherlands.