Identity theft is not a joke, but if Elon Musk asks you for money, that should probably raise a few red flags.
Unfortunately, it didn’t raise enough suspicion for one Florida principal, who wrote a cheque for US$100,000 ($136,220) in school funds to an online scammer posing as the Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter CEO.
Jan McGee, the once-principal of Burns Science and Technology Charter in Oak Hill, Fla., resigned from her position at a meeting with school board members and teachers this week, as per local news outlet WESH 2 News.
“I am a very smart lady. Well-educated. I fell for a scam,” McGee said at the meeting.
McGee and the fake Musk reportedly spoke for at least four months. The principal had long since hoped the billionaire and his money would become involved in the school, despite warnings from staff members that she was speaking to a fraudster.
She claimed to be a victim of grooming at the hands of the scammer.
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“Grooming is when you talk to somebody and you believe in them, and they get you to trust them that this is really real, and so I fell for it,” McGee explained.
School board chair Albert Amalfitano said McGee wrote the $100,000 cheque from the school’s account and made it out to a person she believed was Musk’s next in command. She believed Musk would match the funds and in turn give the school US$6 million.
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McGee was only authorized to write US$50,000 cheques without board approval, but wrote one for the unauthorized US$100,000 anyway. The school’s business manager noticed the transaction and halted the cheque before it cleared.
“I put myself into this position and into this mess and I made a bad decision,” McGee said.
At the board meeting, three other teachers accused McGee of creating a toxic work environment in the school. When the teachers threatened to resign, McGee resigned instead, alongside her husband, who was also an educator.
McGee reportedly worked at the STEM school for 12 years. Burns Science and Technology Charter is a prestigious school with just under 1,000 attendees and a long wait-list for potential students, WESH 2 News reported.
In 2023 alone, Canadians have lost about $133.7 million to fraud, much of which happens online, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police encourage social media users to remain skeptical of messages from unknown persons. The organization recommends conducting a thorough internet search of a person’s identity. They also claim that if a person asks for money or has “fallen in love fast,” it should be seen as a red flag.
If you or someone you know is a victim of an online scam, you should file a report with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
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