Victim of ‘Elon Musk’ Bitcoin scam loses home deposit

She lost £9,000 in the scam.

A woman who fell victim to online scammers has said that she feels ashamed and embarrassed after she was conned into giving away her savings. Julie Bushnell fell for a Bitcoin fraud that used the name of entrepreneur Elon Musk and a story on a fake BBC website suggesting that she could double her money in a giveaway of the cryptocurrency. Bushnell, who is a teacher from Brighton told the BBC: "I think about it everyday." The teacher was already an investor in cryptocurrency, and spotted an item on a website that seemed to use BBC News branding. The article claimed that billionaire boss of Tesla and crypto investor Elon Musk would pay back double the sum of any Bitcoin deposit made. She paid £9,000, which was money she had saved for a deposit on a house. It was only when no payment arrived in return that Ms Bushnell realised she had been the victim of a scam. She said: "It has affected me massively. I wish I could have that time back - go in a time machine and not make those couple of clicks." The teacher has reported the crime to Sussex Police and Action Fraud, and added: "They have robbed me of my dignity, self-respect, self-worth and strength. They have sucked all the goodness of life out of me.