40-year-old Mumbai woman falls for fake Elon Musk promising marriage and US life, loses Rs 16.34 lakh

Mumbai woman duped by fake Elon Musk in online marriage scam. (AI-generated image)

A 40-year-old woman from Mumbai’s Chembur area believed she had found a potential life partner when she began chatting online with a man claiming to be billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk. What started as a casual conversation soon progressed into promises of marriage, a future in the US, and a shared life together. The interaction later turned out to be an online scam, in which the woman reportedly lost Rs 16.34 lakh.

As reported by The Free Press Journal, the complainant is a 40-year-old woman residing at Tilaknagar in Chembur with her parents. Until October 2025, she was employed in the back-office accounts department of an insurance company and is currently a homemaker.

According to her complaint, she came into contact with the accused in the last week of September 2025 through X (formerly Twitter). The man claimed to be Elon Musk and engaged her in regular conversations, gradually gaining her trust.

The accused later persuaded her to download the Signal messaging application through a link. After shifting the conversation to Signal, the chats became frequent. During these conversations, the accused proposed marriage and told the woman that he wanted to settle with her in the US. He assured her that he would arrange all necessary documents, including her US visa.

Soon after, the woman was introduced to another individual, James, who claimed to be a visa agent. The person informed her that visa processing would require payment. Following their instructions, the woman was asked to make payments by purchasing Amazon gift cards. She was told to share the gift card details through email for further processing.

Between October 2, 2025, and January 7, 2026, the woman transferred a total of Rs 16,34,194 from her bank savings account by purchasing multiple Amazon gift cards.

The payments were made in several instalments. On January 15, 2026, after the entire amount had already been transferred, the accused demanded an additional $400 (approximately Rs 2 lakh), stating that the money was required for flight tickets.

When the woman refused to make the payment, communication from the person claiming to be Elon Musk decreased significantly. Suspecting something was wrong, the woman shared the details with her family members. After reviewing the communication and payment history, she realised that she had been cheated.

The woman subsequently lodged complaints with the national cybercrime helpline 1930 on January 17 and January 19, 2026. She received acknowledgement numbers confirming that her complaints had been registered.

In her complaint, the woman stated that the accused had “conspired together, deceived her using false identity, emotional manipulation, and false promises of marriage and overseas travel, and fraudulently extracted Rs 16.34 lakh”. She submitted supporting documents, including bank statements, credit card statements, and Amazon gift card purchase records, to the authorities.

Based on her complaint and the documents provided, an FIR has been registered against two unknown persons at the East Region Cyber Police Station under relevant sections related to online financial fraud.