{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0348","record_version":1,"title":"Deepfake Elon Musk car giveaway scam defrauds Florida man","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":52.8,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":15.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":2.88,"unhedged_language":3.18},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: News 6 ClickOrlando · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":3,"reports_independent":1,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":false,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"1 report: News 6 ClickOrlando · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"a29e7d06656073e29b793b2695dfb5de16637f4bf677be38a40ef62d81e55b1c"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":null,"safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2025-12-15","incident_class":"other","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"victim","summary":"A 69-year-old Florida man, George Hendricks, reportedly lost $45,000 to scammers who impersonated Elon Musk. The scheme began when he commented in a Facebook group advertising car giveaways. He was then congratulated on winning a car and cash, was asked to move to WhatsApp, and received a personalized video message he believed was from Musk. He was told to pay $7,500 for car shipping, then sent nearly $37,000 more after being offered an investment. When no payout or car arrived, he reported the matter to Leesburg police. The sources describe scammers using AI-generated deepfake videos. They do not describe any AI agent, any platform safeguard, or any remediation.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":45000.0,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","harm_class":["financial"],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/tesla-elon-musk-florida-scam-ai-generated-b2885120.html","publisher":"The Independent","date":"2025-12-15","type":"press","title":"Man says wife wants divorce after he drained savings falling for AI scam - The Independent","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"},{"url":"https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2025/12/15/elon-musk-giveaway-scheme-steals-45000-from-florida-couple/","publisher":"WKMG","date":"2025-12-15","type":"press","title":"Elon Musk giveaway scheme steals $45,000 from Florida couple - WKMG","archived_url":null,"independence":"independent"},{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/elon-musk-florida-man-scam-divorce-b2885053.html","publisher":"The Independent","date":"2025-12-15","type":"press","title":"Florida man says his wife ‘wants a divorce’ after he lost $45,000 on an AI-generated Elon Musk car scam - The Independent","archived_url":null}],"per_field_confidence":{"event.detection_method":"C","impact.direct_loss_usd":"C","impact.harm_class":"C","context.country":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":1,"quote":"When no payout or car arrived, Hendricks filed a report with Leesburg police."}],"impact.direct_loss_usd":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"George Hendricks, a 69-year-old Florida man, reportedly lost $45,000 to scammers impersonating Elon Musk."}],"impact.harm_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Hendricks was instructed to pay $7,500 for car shipping and subsequently sent nearly $37,000 more, ultimately draining his accounts."}],"context.country":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"George Hendricks, a 69-year-old Florida man, reportedly lost $45,000 to scammers impersonating Elon Musk."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scammers allegedly used an AI-generated deepfake video of Musk to convince Hendricks he had won a car and a cash prize, and later to build trust."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Hendricks was instructed to pay $7,500 for car shipping and subsequently sent nearly $37,000 more, ultimately draining his accounts."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":1,"quote":"The scheme started when Hendricks commented in an Elon Musk car giveaway group on Facebook, one of many such groups online."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"Hendricks then got a personalized video message, which he believed was from Musk himself, promising delivery of the prize package."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Hendricks was instructed to pay $7,500 for car shipping and subsequently sent nearly $37,000 more, ultimately draining his accounts."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"When no payout or car arrived, Hendricks filed a report with Leesburg police."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Scammers allegedly used an AI-generated deepfake video of Musk to convince Hendricks he had won a car and a cash prize, and later to build trust."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No dates of occurrence, disclosure or detection are stated in the sources; the source dates are publication dates only, so no event dates were entered. Sources say the loss was reportedly $45,000 in one place and nearly $45,000 in another; the stated $45,000 figure was used and the approximation is noted here. The sources describe scammers using deepfake videos but do not name the generation tool, so no system fields were entered. No AI agent is described, so event.agent_involved, failure class and autonomy fields were left out. No platform, bank or other control is stated as held, failed or missing, and no remediation is reported. Judgements made: incident_class set to other because it is a consumer fraud; trigger set to human_misuse because the sources attribute the scam to scammers; severity set to moderate because the victim's accounts were drained and the scope is one stated victim; country set to US inferred from Florida; the victim's Florida location is taken from the sources. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (1 report: News 6 ClickOrlando · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"US","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"went_wrong","text":"Scammers allegedly used an AI-generated deepfake video of Musk to convince the victim he had won a car and cash prize.","quote":"Scammers allegedly used an AI-generated deepfake video of Musk to convince Hendricks he had won a car and a cash prize, and later to build trust.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"reached","text":"The victim was told to pay $7,500 for car shipping and then sent nearly $37,000 more.","quote":"Hendricks was instructed to pay $7,500 for car shipping and subsequently sent nearly $37,000 more, ultimately draining his accounts.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"When no payout or car arrived, the victim filed a report with Leesburg police.","quote":"When no payout or car arrived, Hendricks filed a report with Leesburg police.","source_index":1,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/tesla-elon-musk-florida-scam-ai-generated-b2885120.html","https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2025/12/15/elon-musk-giveaway-scheme-steals-45000-from-florida-couple/","https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/elon-musk-florida-man-scam-divorce-b2885053.html"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Victim received a Facebook message congratulating him on winning a car and $100,000.","quote":"Hendricks then received a Facebook message congratulating him on winning $100,000 and a brand-new car.","source_index":1,"when":null},{"text":"Victim received a personalized video message he believed was from Musk, promising delivery of the prize.","quote":"Hendricks then got a personalized video message, which he believed was from Musk himself, promising delivery of the prize package.","source_index":1,"when":null},{"text":"The scammers exchanged hundreds of messages; the victim drained bank accounts and maxed out credit cards, sending nearly $37,000 more.","quote":"The scammers exchanged hundreds of messages with Hendricks, who ended up draining bank accounts and maxing out credit cards, sending nearly $37,000 more.","source_index":1,"when":null},{"text":"Victim filed a report with Leesburg police after no payout or car arrived.","quote":"When no payout or car arrived, Hendricks filed a report with Leesburg police.","source_index":1,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/tesla-elon-musk-florida-scam-ai-generated-b2885120.html","https://www.clickorlando.com/news/investigators/2025/12/15/elon-musk-giveaway-scheme-steals-45000-from-florida-couple/","https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/elon-musk-florida-man-scam-divorce-b2885053.html"]}}