Fake Elon Musk defrauded a school principal in the United States of $ 100,000

The principal of an American high school has resigned after being caught in an unknowing scam. School board members discovered that she had written a check for $ 100,000 to a person who had been pretending to be Elon Musk on the Internet.

Jen McGee worked at Burns Science and Technology Charter School in Florida. According to local news reports, the woman had been trying to raise money for the school for a long time and was constantly trying to get Musk’s attention publicly.

An online fraudster decided to take advantage of the situation. The attacker contacted the school principal on behalf of the SpaceX owner and convinced her that in order to invest, she must first write him a check for $ 100,000. This, according to the scammer, was supposed to lead to Musk investing $ 6 million in Burns Science and Technology Charter School.

«Somehow, McGee believed this nonsense,» said Albert Amalfitano, chairman of the school’s board, in an interview with WESH 2 News. — «Apparently, the fake Elon Musk was very convincing.»

The principal’s action did not go unnoticed by the board, the PTA, the teaching staff, and the students' parents. They all demanded an explanation from McGee. «I am a very smart, educated woman. However, it never occurred to me that this was a scam, I fell for it. I was just 'worked',» she said during a meeting with all concerned.

McGee wrote a check for $ 100,000 directly from school funds, which she was not authorized to do. The money went to a man named Luis Alberto Feranendez, whom McGee considered to be Musk’s «right-hand man.» In a note to the report, the principal wrote «Appropriate funds» in the note where the school funds were directed.

During a meeting with the victims, McGee apologized. «I put myself in this position, my decision was wrong,» she said. The woman subsequently resigned, and her husband, who worked as a teacher at the institution, was forced to do the same.