Did Elon Musk post a promo code to his crypto project on X, and was that post then used to make a Times Square billboard promotion in New York City? No, that's not true: This is a fabricated image promoting a crypto currency scam. There is no evidence that Musk made this post or that the crypto promotion ever appeared on a real billboard at this location. The short-lived website named in one promotion is no longer registered or functional. Additional versions of this scam feature the same billboard photo with the same truck passing on the street, but a different website URL, thus clearly showing that the images have been faked and are not a genuine photo taken by a passerby.
The promotion appeared in a reply (archived here) to another post on Threads on September 28, 2024. The reply was captioned:
I saw this billboard on the street today, thanks Elon Musk🤍🚀
This is how the post appeared at the time of writing:
(Source: Threads screenshot taken on Fri Oct 04 15:21:11 2024 UTC)
The image shows a digital billboard on the corner of 7th Avenue and 41st Street just outside the formal limits of what is known as the "Times Square Bowtie" in New York City. In the foreground a work truck with ladder racks is passing by. On the billboard, the message appears in the format of a post on the platform X. The text reads:
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
Go to my crypto project
SWEXES.COM
Enter my promo 31muskxx
Take 0.31 BTC
The fly-by-night website mentioned in this promotion, SWEXES.COM, is no longer functional. According to the Whois record at Domaintools.com, the 8-day-old domain was registered on September 26, 2024. The domain status is "Deleted and available again" (pictured below).
(Source: Domaintools.com screenshot taken on Fri Oct 04 15:46:16 2024 UTC)
A Google search for the domain returned an article (archived here) on the cybersecurity blog malwaretips.com that opens:
Swexes.com is a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform being promoted through an elaborate scam on social media platforms. Using deepfake videos of celebrities like Cristiano Ronaldo and Elon Musk, scammers trick fans into depositing Bitcoin on the fake site by promising free crypto giveaways activated by special promo codes. But Swexes solely exists to steal money from victims lured by the deceptive celebrity endorsements and too-good-to-be-true bonuses.
The fabricated promotion is supposed to look as if it is a post from Elon Musk on X, the platform he owns -- but this is not what Musk's posts look like currently. His profile picture (pictured below) is his own face and next to his name is a blue check and a black X. The fabricated image has the X logo for a profile picture and no blue checkmark. Musk has used the X logo for a profile picture in the past (archive here), but even then the blue check was displayed beside his name.
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Oct 04 15:50:20 2024 UTC)
An advanced search on X (archived here) for the promo code purportedly posted by Musk's account returns no results (pictured below)
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Oct 04 16:05:14 2024 UTC)
In another post on Threads (archived here) posted on October 1, 2024, the same billboard image appears with the same truck with ladder racks passing by (pictured below), with the same caption and same ad copy but with a different website, BEDXERS.COM. This shows that the image of a real billboard in New York City has been altered to show multiple versions of a fake tweet -- real-life promotions never existed.
(Source: Threads screenshot taken on Fri Oct 04 16:17:32 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories has reached out for comment to the ad company connected with this digital billboard and will update this fact check if we receive a reply.
At the time this was written, PolitiFact had reviewed the same claim.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on false claims involving Elon Musk can be found here.
