AI impersonation of Elon Musk defrauds elderly Singaporean woman of S$600,000
A 75-year-old Singaporean woman was defrauded of S$600,000 over three years by scammers who used artificial intelligence to impersonate billionaire Elon Musk and convince her to send money to save his company. The police issued her a restriction order in July 2025 under the Protection from Scams Act, the first such case since the law took effect.
What happened
Since 2022, scammers used artificial intelligence to impersonate billionaire Elon Musk in conversations with a 75-year-old Singaporean woman. Over three years, the scammers convinced her that Musk needed her money to save his company from financial ruin, and she transferred S$600,000 to them.
The victim's daughters discovered the fraud in April 2025 when police informed them their mother wanted to transfer S$67,000 to an unknown account. The victim claimed that Musk had introduced her to Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg, and that she was helping to manage their finances and was in contact with Musk's sister and mother.
Reported impact
The S$600,000 defrauded from the victim came from her joint bank account with her 83-year-old husband and was the elderly couple's life savings. The money was also supposed to be used for her husband's open-heart surgery in January.
Index analysis
To prevent transactions from being flagged as suspicious, the victim made multiple transfers of smaller amounts between S$1,000 and S$2,000 each time.
Governance controls
In July 2025, police issued a restriction order to the victim under the Protection from Scams Act 2025, limiting her banking transactions and preventing further losses. She was the first person issued such an order since the law took effect on July 1, 2025.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.