Japanese man arrested for impersonating Elon Musk in romance fraud

Police in Japan arrested 31‑year‑old Ryo Noya of Kurashiki, Okayama, for posing as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and using fake messages on X (formerly Twitter) and LINE to defraud a 65‑year‑old woman in Ubatagata, Kumamoto. The suspect, acting as a "money courier," persuaded the victim to send a total of 700,000 yen over two periods in 2025, employing AI‑generated images to lend credibility.

Investigators linked the case to an organized romance‑scam network known as "Tokuryu," which frequently uses high‑profile impersonations and fabricated personal stories to extract money from elderly victims.