Elon Musk has a reputation for being something of a lothario. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that the purported father of 14 children has success with the ladies.
A scammer may have used the fact that Musk isn’t shy about sowing his oats to take advantage of an elderly woman in Florida. Had a Publix worker and her manager not intervened, they may still be doing so.
What does Elon Musk have to do with this Publix?
Last month, Kaddish (@kaddishinthecut) posted a clip of her interaction with the older woman. The woman, whose identity Kaddish protects with editing, is trying to buy a Visa gift card at a Florida Publix. You don’t see the woman’s face, but you do see her arm with what looks to be a bruise common among elderly people who take blood thinners.
Kaddish asks her who she’s buying the card for.
“I’m sending it to Elon Musk,” the woman replies, displaying a photo of Musk with the Twitter logo on her phone.
Kaddish is clearly alarmed. “How long have you known him?” she asks.
She follows up to ask if the woman’s ever met Musk, clarifying “in person, face-to-face.” The woman says that she has and later claims he’s picking her up soon.
Clearly unconvinced, Kaddish takes a look at the message history with “Musk” on the woman’s phone.
The messages are clearly romantic, with loving emojis and terms of endearment. Whoever wrote them, as it obviously wasn’t Elon Musk, called the woman “my love” and “honey.”
Most alarmingly, they told her not to buy the Visa gift card but to get a “Razor gold or steam card.”
Both Razer and Steam gift cards are used to purchase games and related virtual items and physical merchandise.
The jig is up
Some people would turn a blind eye to such an obvious red flag. Not Kaddish and her manager, who can be heard in the TikTok.
After looking at the woman’s phone, Kaddish tells her, “You’re getting scammed.”
The woman seems unconvinced, telling Kaddish that “Musk” is coming to pick her up soon. Then she says, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
In a comment, Kaddish writes, “My manager said to her ‘Elon a billionaire, honey, he don’t need your $50,'” adding, “TEARS came out my eyes.”
At the end of the TikTok, you can see Kaddish blocking the number of whoever was impersonating Elon Musk to get the elderly woman’s money.
What happened?
In a TikTok DM with the Mary Sue, Kaddish says the woman initially came up to ask for help buying the e-gift card. The woman was purportedly not familiar with that type of gift card, Kaddish says, which is why she helped her out by taking her phone.
When the woman told Kaddish that she wanted to send it to someone, the TikToker asked her who would be receiving it.
“She pulled up a picture of [Elon Musk] on her phone and a whole bunch of messages of them being lovely dovey,” the creator said. “We had to explain to her that she was getting scammed and that she wasn’t really talking to Elon Musk.”
According to Kaddish, the woman was confused and genuinely believed she was talking to the billionaire.
“We took the time to explain everything to her and it seemed like she understood by the end of it,” she said. “I’m glad that we could help her because stuff like this happens all the time all around the world.”
She urges folks to check on their grandparents because she sees “these types of scams every day.”
“It actually breaks my heart to see people taking advantage of the elderly,” she said. “It’s not even just the elderly getting scammed; it’s everyone. Being scammed has no age.”
She praises her workplace for training her with the regulations set up to catch these scams.
“We probably save thousands of people a week and it makes me happy to be working for a company that cares about their people,” she said.
What is elder abuse?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines elder abuse as “an intentional act or failure to act that causes or creates a risk of harm to an older adult.” This may involve lying to someone with a mental acuity issue like dementia or Alzheimer’s. It can also entail physically harming someone with an ailment like Parkinson’s disease.
The National Council on Aging notes that financial exploitation is among the most pervasive forms of elder abuse. This “is estimated to cause $28.3 billion in losses each year,” it writes.
The organization says that social isolation and mental impairments are two common factors that make someone more likely to be the victim of elder abuse.
In this instance, the scammer pretending to be Musk could be committing elder abuse.
The internet responds
Comments on Kaddish’s post are filled with sympathy, praise, and concern. It’s generated significant interest, racking up 801,000 views thus far.
“Yall should have called the police. Elder abuse,” reads the most-liked comment. Another countered, “Most of the times police can’t do anyone because the scams are outside the country.”
A TikToker named Mikayla said, “I LOVE YALL BLOCKED HIM FOR HER.”
Several wondered who was purportedly picking the woman up. “I would’ve went outside with her,” said one. Kaddish replied, “Nah wait a minute. You right fr.”
The messages on the woman’s phone include one to the purported scammer saying that she was in the van. This suggests she was using some type of mass transit, likely one for elderly people.
One particularly observant person gave Kaddish praise for the parting message she sent “Musk.”
In it, Kaddish wrote, “You’re not getting no card boo,” with a kissing emoji.
Kaddish didn’t respond to a direct message sent via TikTok Tuesday evening.
@kaddishinthecut man i was WEAKKKKKKKK. i felt bad for her tho fr. like bro no way ?
♬ original sound – kaddish
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