Everyone would love to be Elon Musk, but seldom should anyone try and impersonate him. An oil executive at Quest Integrity Group allegedly pretended to be the multi-faceted entrepreneur, and is now facing a lawsuit.
According to Bloomberg, Todd A. Katz, the CFO for Quest Integrity Group, allegedly used a fraudulent email to acquire inside information on Tesla. The email in question, which was sent to Tesla CFO Jason Wheeler, was from “ElonTesla@yahoo.com,” which likely raised a few eyebrows. Common sense would dictate that Musk, at the very least, would email from an @Tesla email address.
According to a copy of the complaint given to Bloomberg by Tesla’s lawyer, Katz was allegedly seeking “highly confidential and proprietary Tesla business information.”
The alleged email in question read:
“why you so cautious w Q3/4 gm guidance on call? also what are your thoughts on disclosing M3 res#? Pros/cons from ir pov? what is your best guess as to where we actually come in on q3/4 deliverables. honest guess? no bs. thx 4 hard work prepping 4 today
em”
The incident took place on August 3, 2016, and Tesla was quick to take action.
Tesla clearly isn’t too happy that an oil executive was trying to impersonate its CEO. The lawsuit filing states “Tesla is under constant attack from the oil industry. In recent years, oil companies have spent billions on legislative efforts and campaigns aimed at blocking progress toward electric cars and other sustainable energy solutions in the United States and abroad.”
It’s unknown if this is the first time Tesla employees have received emails from people impersonating Musk. Tesla is suing for incurred costs, losses, and damages. The amount for which Tesla is suing has not been disclosed. The action was filed with the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara.
